


Heaven is a Place on Earth

by orphan_account



Series: The Kosei Island Duology [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Black Mirror- San Junipero, Character Death, M/M, Mentions of Cancer, Mentions of attempted suicide, San Junipero, also some time travel, but also not really, it's kind of complicated but it's explained in-fic, mentions of medically-assisted suicide, san junipero au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-09-23 01:14:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9633512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Looking to live a little and meet new people, Goro Akechi visits the party island of Kosei, where the people are beautiful and there is no shortage of surf, sun, and sex. He crosses paths with Akira Kurusu, a kind but charming, devilish party-hopper and they fall in love.But things aren't all that they seem, and obstacles to their relationship abound that they have to overcome.This is their story.ShuAke side to the Kosei Island Duology.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi All, If you came over from my "Wide Eyes, Blind Love" fic, you'll know that this is the start of the Unnamed AU series I mentioned in it! I decided to do a duology of sorts based off of the "San Junipero" Episode of Black Mirror to tie me over until I can play P5 before I continue writing the other AU . No prior knowledge of it is needed in order to read it, but I do still heavily recommend people watch the episode anyway because it's AMAZING and it saved my gay heart in the first month of 2017)
> 
> To my shukita friends/followers who subscribed to me for that ship, worry not, I'm writing a Shukita version of this AU as the other side to this duology (because I honestly couldnt decide which ship to write this AU for), so look out for it in the coming weeks!
> 
> Anyway, enough rambling, Enjoy this new fic!

The night sky was dark as Goro Akechi made his way through the streets of downtown Kosei City, but despite the darkness, the air was warm and balmy. It was almost too warm, in fact as Goro fiddled a little bit at his tie and rolled up the sleeves of his already-short sleeved button up shirt in an attempt at providing a means to cool off. The heat was certainly not something he was used to, in fact, all of the sensations of the city from the streetlights to the sound of honking cars and whooping hollers of people and the smell of dust and exhaust was so much for him to take in.

He had wandered around the city aimlessly like this for hours before, taking in everything in awe and wonder. He had bumped into several different groups of girls along the way when he asked for directions, and almost immediately, Goro had noticed the signs of their attraction to him when he spoke to them, from their dilated pupils and slightly arched eyebrows and hungrily-eyed once-overs, but after 3 instances of that where that had happened (including one inappropriate proposition) and the realization that he was being followed by a great number of them, Goro had had enough, and was looking for a way to escape his stalkers, Which was what eventually led him to stand in front of a big, red-and-black painted building with glowing neon lights while the muffled sound of dance music played just beyond the doors.

Goro looked up at the sign on the building in front of him. “Club Newcomer” The sign read in pink-and-blue neon lights. Goro looked back to find the girls he had ditched were starting to show up. He turned and pushed past the doors. As soon Goro stepped in, he was greeted with the colorful glow of neon lights, hazy fog and glitter being thrown in the air, the sound of loud, booming bass, and the smell of sweat, alcohol, and smoke.

He made his way through the crowd of people dancing and moving their bodies, until he found himself off the dancefloor and standing in front of an open room full of arcade machines. Stepping toward one in wonder and curiosity, he reached to move a joystick of a game.

“It’s got different endings.” A short girl with headphones and long, orange hair said, looking up from playing her game on the machine next to his. “Depending on if you play on one or two player mode.” She added.

“That’s nice.” Goro said absentmindedly as he looked up only to see his stalkers walk through the door and spot him.

“Wanna help me unlock them? I’ve beaten my high score like, ten times in single-player mode.” She added as she canceled out her game. "I'd really like to know how the different endings go."

“I’m sorry.” Goro said as he stepped away. “Really, that sounds fun and all, but not right now.” And with that, he hurriedly walked back into the crowd, hoping to throw the girls off. As he noticed more started following him, he hurriedly looked around for a way out until he spotted a black-haired boy with glasses sitting down alone at a booth. He hurriedly rushed over.

“Please help me!” Goro said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice as he stepped closer to the booth. “Go with whatever I say, I’ll explain later.”

“Wait, what?” The black-haired boy said, looking up in alarm before he noticed the crowd of girls tailing Goro before he nodded in understanding and slid aside to let Goro sit next to him.

“Hey ladies!” Goro said, with only the slightest hint of nervousness in his voice as the girls approached their booth. “I’m so sorry to disappoint you all, but can I please get some time alone with my friend? He’s only got six months left to live, you see.”

“Five, actually.” The other boy said, adjusting his glasses.

“I haven’t seen him in a while and I’d really like to catch up with him.” Goro said. “You know, private time.”

“Awwww dang.” One of the girls said. “That’s okay! We’ll wait for you later! Come on!” She said to her friends as they turned and walked away.

Goro sighed in relief as he watched them leave. He turned to the boy sitting next to him. “Sorry for killing you.” He said. “The whole six months to live thing, I mean.”

“Five.” The other boy said, cracking a smile.

“That was a nice touch.” Goro said, smiling.

“You’ve got quite a fanclub going there.” The mysterious (“and handsome,” Goro noted) brunet chuckled.

“I never asked for it though.” Goro admitted. “They all just kind of started following me as soon as I arrived on Kosei Island and they haven't left me alone since.”

“Wow, you must have been here a long time for you to have this much of a following.” The other boy said. “Not that that would be hard for you with your looks and all.

“Not really.” Goro replied, blushing at the stranger’s compliment he did so. “This is actually my first day here, I just spent it walking around and exploring Kosei City the entire time I’ve been here.”

“Wait, holy shit, really?” The brunet said in awe. “Wow, look at you, Mr. Ladykiller!” He teased.

“I don’t think it’s something anybody should actually want.” Goro admitted. “They won’t leave me alone. It gets kind of uncomfortable, actually.  Some of them had tried asking me for sexual favors earlier.”

“Tell you what.” The boy said as he got up from his seat. “They’ll probably give up on waiting if you stall them long enough so Let me take you somewhere private where these girls won’t be able to come near you.”

“Really?” Goro said, feeling his heart flutter slightly as the boy took him by the wrist and pulled him up.

“Yeah, come on!” He said as he pulled Goro along with him through the crowd until he eventually reached a blue-and-gold door with a sign above it reading “The Velvet Room.” On either side of it, two blonde twin girls (who couldn’t look any older than 14, Goro noted) in blue security guard uniforms stood by it, one with her hair in a braid and the other with her hair tied into two buns.

“Hey Justine, hey Caroline.” The black-haired boy said, grinning as he did. “How are my two favorite girls doing?”

“Cut the Shit, Kurusu.” The girl with bun-hair said, reaching for her nightstick. “What do you want?”

“Caroline, be nice.” The other girl, Justine, said as she turned a page on her clipboard. “He’s a guest.”

Caroline just huffed and turned away from the pair, crossing her arms as she did so.

The other boy chuckled. “Same as always.” He commented humorously.

“How’s Igor doing, by the way? I haven’t seen him in forever.” He said as Justine scribbled something into her clipboard. “Is he in?”

“The proprietor of this establishment isn’t in.” Justine said as she put her pen down and opened the door for him.

“Awww dang, I miss that guy.” The brunet said before stepping in, Goro in tow. “Anyway, thanks for letting me in. Tell Igor I said hi!”

“You can’t come in here unless you’re on the guest list!” Caroline said as she firmly grabbed Goro by the arm.

“Caroline, relax.” The other boy said. “He’s my plus-one.”

Goro felt Caroline's grip on his arm loosen before he stepped past the doors after the stranger.

Instantly, Goro was surrounded by Blue. Everything was blue, with hints of gold and silver. Blue lights glowed serenely in sleek silver light fixtures that illuminated a room with gold art-deco designs painted on the blue wall and plush-looking seats with blue velvet upholstery with golden tables strategically placed in front of certain seats. In a corner, Goro noticed a boy with a silvery-haired bowlcut in his mid-twenties talking to an apathetic-looking blue-haired boy with headphones. On the other side, a woman with shoulder-length black hair was seen talking to a brown-haired man in his late twenties as a woman with a blue dress and a chin-length blonde bob haircut brought their drinks over to them. At the gently-illuminated bar, a blonde woman with curly shoulder-length hair and a man with short, equally-blonde hair mixed drinks.

In contrast to the glitter and neon lights of the club just past the doors, the Velvet Room lounge practically screamed “Class” and “Elegance”.

“Come on, let’s sit down.” The brunet said, pulling Goro by the wrist until they sat down at the bar.

“Hey Margaret, hey Theodore.” The black-haired boy said casually as he hopped up on the bar stool. “How are things going?”

“The usual.” Margaret said calmly. “I trust things are going well? Who might this person be?”

Goro sat up, alert as he realized he had been addressed. “Akechi.” He said, sticking his hand out for a handshake. “Goro Akechi.”

“Margaret.” The woman said as she shook his hand. “And this here is my brother Theodore, and my sister Elizabeth.” She said, gesturing to the man and the other woman, the former looking up briefly from the cocktail he was mixing to give a nod of acknowledgement to the pair sitting at the bar. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” Margaret said.

“The same to you too.” Goro said politely.

“So what can I get for you?” Margaret asked.

“I’ll get two rum and colas.” The black-haired boy said.

“I don’t dr—” Goro spoke up to decline before the other boy gave him a look and he stopped talking.

“Two rum and colas it is.” Margaret said as she reached for a couple bottles on the wall behind her and got to mixing.

“So, your name is Goro Akechi?” The other boy said, adjusting his glasses as he turned to look at him.

“Yeah.” Goro said as he looked away awkwardly as he realized something. “You know, I feel bad for asking this, but after all you’ve done for me, I still don’t know your name.”

“Oh my god, where are my manners!” The other boy said as he smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand. “My name’s Akira Kurusu.” He said.

“That’s okay.” Goro said with a chuckle. “I’ll admit things got a little hectic outside.”

“Yeah no doubt. Good thing we’re here though. It gives us a quieter place to talk.” Akira pointed out.

“True.” Goro said. “How did you end up on the guest list for a place like this? It seems pretty exclusive what with the guards outside. Are you like a VIP or something?”

“I guess you could say that.” Akira chuckled nonchalantly as he sheepishly ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m kind of friends with the owner since I did a couple favors for him a while back so I permanently get all-access permission to both the club and the lounge.”

“I see.” Goro said as Margaret placed two glasses on the counter. Akira and Goro reached for their glasses.

“I have a question about those glasses you wear.” Goro said, making small talk. “Are they real? I mean, do you need them? I would have thought people in Kosei Island don’t need things like that, since, you know…”

“Oh, these?” Akira asked, setting down his drink as he took his glasses off to show to Goro. “I mean the glasses are real but the lenses are fake.”

“That’s what I thought.” Goro said, his suspicion proven true as Akira put the glasses back on his face.

“I used to wear them a lot when I was in junior high and high school and they just kind of became a comfort thing after I outgrew the need for them.” Akira admitted.

“I like it. It suits you.” Goro said.

“Thank you.” Akira said.

Goro looked at his still-full glass, which was now heavily sweating from the ice cubes in it. He then noticed Akira regarding his drink. “You going to drink that?” The brunet asked.

Goro started. “Oh yeah.” He said awkwardly. “Sorry, I’ve been so distracted.”

“Well, cheers then!” Akira said, holding up his half-empty glass. Goro brought his up and clinked their glasses together before he took a swig from it. He involuntarily made a surprised face at the sweetness of the cola and the even more unexpected fiery bitterness of the rum mixing on his tongue.

“Never had it before?” Akira asked with a laugh.

“No, never.” Goro admitted. “It’s good though.” He said.

“So do you live here?” Goro asked.

“No.” Akira said as he took a sip of his drink. “I’m kind of a tourist, you might say. Just kind of here to have fun, you know?”

“I guess.” Goro said. “So what kind of favors did you do for the owner of this place?”

“Mostly ran deliveries, but he met me back when I worked as a barista and we made a contract of sorts.” Akira replied. “What about you? What do you do?”

Goro opened his mouth to speak before he closed it. Akira had unknowingly brought up a topic he wasn’t prepared to talk about, but he still felt obligated to say something.

“I was on my way to becoming a detective until…” Goro trailed off as he started feeling an uneasy feeling in his stomach as he recalled his memories.

“Until what?” Akira asked curiously.

“I don’t feel comfortable talking about it.” Goro admitted.

“Alright, I won’t force you.” Akira said as he finished off his drink. He paused.

“Hey, I kind of feel like dancing.” He said, changing the topic. “Let’s go dancing!”

“T-together?” Goro asked in shock.

“Well, yeah.” Akira said matter-of-factly.

“Wait, what about my stalkers?” Goro asked, suddenly feeling anxious from the thought of going back out into the club.

“They’ve probably left by now.” Akira said as he pulled Goro along. “Come on!”

Before Goro could protest further, he felt Akira tug at his wrist and pull him along, out the doors and back into the haze and heat and sweat of the club.

Akira pulled Goro along until they were both standing in the middle of the dancefloor. Akira instantly started moving himself in time to the music.

“ _He’s good at this_.” Goro thought to himself as he tried to join into the beat of the music’s drums and synth and tried not think about all the pairs of eyes he could have sworn he felt watching the both of them.

After about seven minutes of dancing, in which Goro could increasingly feel himself being overwhelmed by all the sensations around him and the feelings of anxiety rising in his chest, he started walking way, pushing his way through the crowd until he reached a back door.

He burst outside into the relatively cooler air, feeling the drops of rain on his skin. He looked up, taking a deep breath as he inhaled the clean, clear air, letting it fill his lungs.

Within minutes, he heard the door open. He turned to face it.

“Why’d you leave?” Akira asked.

“I-I’m sorry.” Goro said sheepishly, running his fingers through his hair out of embarrassment. “It’s just that I felt kind of anxious that people were looking at us, plus I don’t think I’m that great of a dancer.”

“I understand your anxiety but one, this is a party town, nobody cares if two guys are dancing together. And two, for what it’s worth, I thought you danced AMAZINGLY.” Akira said reassuringly.

“Wait, really?” Goro asked.

“Yeah! You were moving like Michael Jackson in there!” Akira chuckled. “Watching you move your hips was like magic! If people were staring, it’s because you dance SO WELL!”

“Th-Thank you.” Goro blushed as he stuttered, flustered at the compliment. “I’ve never been on a dancefloor before.”

“Wait, Never?” Akira asked in shock. “As in, the ‘whole time you’ve been alive’ kind of never?”

“Never.” Goro replied, shaking his head.

“That’s one sheltered existence you’ve got there.” Akira commented as he leaned against the wall and sat down.

“Well, as far as my family is concerned, I can’t do anything.” Goro said as he sat down as well, feeling slightly bitter as he thought about his family, if he could even call it that.

“Well, no one knows about even half the stuff I get up to.” Akira chuckled. “But with your folks though, it’s from a place of love, right? They worry.”

“They don’t worry.” Goro scoffed as he turned away. “Just… the concept of me enjoying myself would blow my father’s mind.” He said even more bitterly.”

“Sorry I asked.” Akira apologized. He paused before speaking again. “So what would you like to do that you’ve never done?”

“Oh, so many things.” Goro said as he looked up in wonder at the thought.

“Well, this is a party town.” Akira pointed out once more. “All of it is up for grabs.”

Goro looked at the watch on his wrist, wondering how much time he had left. “There’s only an hour and a half until midnight.” He said. “After that, my time is up.”

“Oh, that’s not long.” Akira said, sounding slightly disappointed. “Why waste time sitting here?” He asked as Goro felt Akira move his hand towards his inner thigh.

“I… umm…” Goro stammered, suddenly feeling flustered and standing up. “Listen—”

“It’s okay.” Akira said gently, standing up and putting his hand on Goro’s shoulder.

“N-no! I mean…” Goro stammered.

“Really, It’s okay.” Akira reassured.

“I’m uhhh… I’m engaged.” Goro stammered. “I have a fiancée, Haru.” He said.

“And is Haru here?” Akira asked as he stepped closer to Goro.

“No, she’s—” Goro began.

“Elsewhere?” Akira asked, finishing Goro’s sentence as he raised an eyebrow.

Goro gulped. “Yeah.” He said.

“Huh.” Akira said as Goro saw him eye him up and down. “Wanna go to bed with me?” He suggested. “We could be back at mine in like —” He snapped his fingers as a demonstration.

Goro shook his head, feeling equal parts flustered and awkward. “I never did anything like that.” He admitted.

“All the more reason...” Akira said, smirking as he stepped closer and put his hands on Goro’s waist.

“Oh… you’re so nice.” Goro said sadly as he looked up at the raining sky. “But I can’t.”

“Okay.” Akira said, the hint of disappointment in his voice clearly evident.

“It’s just I can’t.” Goro said apologetically.

“No, really I get it.” Akira said as he untangled himself from Goro. “There’s no need to apologize. I’m sorry I came on so strong.”

“I have to go.” Goro said as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

“In this?” Akira asked, gesturing at the rain.

“It’s been really great to meet you.” Goro said, awkwardly sticking his hand out for a handshake.

“Likewise.” Akira said, taking his hand and shaking it.

“I’m sorry.” Goro said as he turned around and headed in the opposite direction. After he walked a few steps, he stopped and turned around, only to find that Akira was no longer there. He sighed disappointedly, rubbing his arms from the chilliness of the rain as he kept walking into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

The next week, Goro found himself standing in front of his mirror, trying on a variety of outfits. He had no particular idea why, but after meeting Akira the previous week, he couldn’t help but feel at least a little self-conscious about his appearance, especially considering the fact that he was planning to go back to Club Newcomer to try to find him again. Although the opportunity to make a first impression was gone, he could at least try to put in an effort to look more presentable than he had been the previous week. He turned to look into his closet for some clothes as he let the radio play music in the background to try to hype him up.

“ _Wake me up before you go-go_  
_'Cause I'm not plannin' on going solo_  
_Wake me up before you go-go_  
_Take me dancing tonight_  
_I want to hit that high.”_

The radio was currently going through a run of 80’s hits as he brought out a mass of clothes on a couple hangers before he got changed into his first outfit, a blue argyle sweater vest over a white button-up shirt and his signature tie with dress pants. After looking in his reflection for a minute and remembering the sweltering heat he had felt the previous week, he immediately shed his clothes and discarded them. He only had to pick up a tan jacket before he realized it would have an even worse effect on him than the sweater vest did. He instantly discarded it into his “reject” pile.He picked up a snazzy red hoodie, ripped white skinny jeans, and a black snapback cap with the word “HERO” printed across the front. Thinking back to the way the people in the nightclub dressed, he put on the outfit ensemble, staring at his image in the reflection for a good three minutes. He almost considered approving the outfit before he realized he didn’t actually feel all that comfortable as himself in it and quickly discarded the ensemble before turning back to a clean white short-sleeved button-up that was almost identical to the one he wore the previous week.

He put on his clothes, switching out the striped tie he wore the previous week with a solid red one. He stared at his reflection once more before he nodded in approval, even daring to flash his reflection a smile and a wink. He took a deep breath before he slowly exhaled and left the room to go to the club.

~~~~~

When Goro entered the nightclub, he almost immediately saw Akira. He felt his heart flutter slightly in his chest as he looked at the black-haired boy who sat at the bar. That was before he realized that Akira was talking to a black-haired girl with a red clover-shaped pin in her hair, who he then asked to dance as he led her out to the dancefloor and started dancing together. Goro was almost about to give up and leave before he noticed Akira make eye contact with him, acknowledging his presence.

Feeling suddenly caught and now stuck in an awkward situation, Goro quickly made his way over to the bar and sat down, ordering a drink from the bartender in an attempt to forget (or at the very least distract) from what he just saw. When the bartender placed his drink on the counter, Goro quickly took it and moved to a quieter booth off to the side and away from all the distracting lights and music.

After the song ended though, Akira and the black-haired girl moved to the booth across from Goro’s and sat down, Akira snaking his arm around her shoulders as she talked with him. Goro tried to look away before Akira noticed him staring, but he did it too late as Akira looked over and made eye contact with him again. Goro quickly cast his eyes elsewhere, in his half empty drink, to the arcade, to the spot on the wall, anywhere but towards Akira, until the temptation grew too strong again and he looked, only to make eye contact once more with Akira. At this point Akira leaned in to say something to the girl, excusing himself before he moved out of the booth and headed toward the restroom. Goro got up from his seat and followed Akira.

When Goro stepped into the restroom, he found Akira standing in front of the mirror and adjusting his clothes and fixing his hair. Suddenly feeling awkward, if a little unsure of if he should even still be doing this.

Finally, he worked up enough nerve to speak.

“I don’t know how to do this.” Goro admitted.

“Do what?” Akira asked, looking at him in confusion.

“Any of… this.” Goro said in frustration. “I don’t really know how any of this works or how it’s supposed to go. Can you please just make this easy for me?”

A look of understanding passed over Akira’s face as he turned to face Goro, moving closer to take one hand in his and moving the other hand to cup Goro’s face.

“Do you want to get in my car?” Akira asked.

Goro nodded. “Yes.” He said.

Akira nodded in acknowledgment before he turned around and swiftly led Goro out the doors of the bathroom, through the club and outside into the fresh air outdoors, leading him through a parking lot until they were standing in front of a shiny red Cadillac convertible. Akira took his keys out and pressed a button, unlocking the car with a beep before he hopped into the driver’s seat. Goro followed suit and got in the front passenger seat, buckling himself in as he did while Akira stuck the key in the ignition and turned the car on and started driving away.

“Nice car.” Goro said appreciatively, admiring the soft leather of the seats and the sleek dashboard interface.

“Thanks.” Akira said, turning to flash Goro a smile. “It’s my favorite one.”

“So…” Goro began, trying to make small talk and learn about the boy sitting in the driver’s seat next to him. “How long have you been here?”

“Sorry?” Akira asked in confusion as he let a car cut in front of him.

“How long have you been here?” Goro asked again, repeating his question.

“On Kosei Island?” Akira asked in clarification. “Uhhh, a couple months.” He answered, thinking about the exact amount of time he had spent. “The plan is to stay here long enough to enjoy myself, so I guess I’m a tourist like you— OH SHIT!” Akira suddenly yelled as he sharply swerved away from a car driving towards him, causing their own vehicle to veer sharply off the road and into the sand of a beach, prompting Goro’s heart to almost seize up out of surprise and shock.

As soon as the sound of the other car driving off was no longer heard, Akira turned to face Goro. “Are you okay?” He asked in concern.

Goro nodded, feeling his heart rate start to calm down. “Yeah.”

“Okay, that’s good.” Akira said, cracking a relieved smile, which turned to one of a humorous nature as he started laughing. “But man you should have seen your face!” He laughed. “I’m sorry I’ll stop laughing soon but the look on your face was priceless.”

“Shouldn’t you be paying more attention to where you’re driving?” Goro pointed out as he scowled at Akira’s teasing as Akira continued to drive the car further along the sand of the beach.

“It’s fine, we’re almost there anyway.” Akira reassured as a low, one-story beach house with a front porch pulled into view.

Akira parked the car and got out, walking over to Goro’s side to open the door for him before they both walked up the stairs and to the front door, which Akira unlocked, stepping into the dimly-lit living room. Goro looked around in awe at the sheer size of the room.

“You like it?” Akira asked as he tossed his keys into a bowl on the counter.

“It’s so big.” Goro said in wonder.

“I like it, I got it because it kind of reminds me of the place I grew up in.” He said as Goro turned back around to face Akira.

Akira noticed almost instantly and he stepped forward to Goro, gently placing his hand on his cheek as he brought his face closer to Goro’s until their lips met. Goro felt his heart beat faster as Akira tangled his hands in his hair and felt his face heat up as Akira kissed him hungrily, gently running his tongue along Goro’s bottom lip, begging to be let in. Goro complied and Akira moved to deepen the kiss as he felt Akira gently move and guide him into the bedroom, where Akira gently pushed Goro onto the bed before he crawled on top of him and continued kissing him, teasingly flicking his tongue against Goro’s as Goro felt Akira run his hands all over his body.

Goro briefly separated so he could catch his breath. “Please show me how to do this.” He whispered quietly.

“Okay.” Akira said, nodding before he went back to kissing Goro, placing his hands on his chest as he did.

Goro could feel his face blush a deep red as he felt Akira’s deft fingers swiftly undo the buttons on his shirt, removing the article of clothing before kissing and licking and sucking all along his chin and down his neck and to his chest before he stopped over a nipple before he began sucking on it.

Goro squeezed his eyes shut as he let out a low moan at the stimulation. He could already feel himself getting hard from how good it felt. Akira looked up at him and smirked before he moved to do the same to the other nipple, reaching a hand down towards Goro’s hips and began rubbing circles into it. Goro felt Akira move his hands lower to his groin before he started gently stroking at the bulge in his pants.

“A-Akira…” Goro moaned. “D-don’t tease me like this.”

Akira said nothing, but then Goro felt Akira gently take his hardened nipple in his teeth and lick at it as he rubbed harder against his member. Goro let out a loud gasp in response, moaning as Akira kept up the stimulation as he felt his member start to strain painfully against his pants.

Right when Goro thought he couldn’t take it any longer, Akira stopped stimulating his nipple and started trailing kisses all the way down his sternum and stomach until he was just above the waistband of his pants. Akira stopped and looked up at Goro.

“Do you want me to continue?” He asked.

Goro nodded. Wordlessly, Akira quickly unzipped Goro’s pants before Goro felt him gently reach under the waistband of his boxers and take out his length, gently wrapping his hand around it as he did so.  
Akira teasingly ran his hand along the length of Goro’s member before Goro felt him lower his mouth to it and start licking all along the sides and veins of his member.

Goro harshly sucked in his breath at Akira’s gentle teasing, just barely stifling another moan as Akira gently licked the tip of his member and started swirling his tongue along the tip until he finally wrapped his mouth around it and slowly slid the rest of Goro’s member into his mouth.

Goro gasped at the foreign sensation of his length in the wet, warm cavity as Akira started gently bobbing his head. Goro reached his hands down and tangled his fingers in Akira’s hair.

Goro moaned louder as he felt Akira gently place slide his hand closer to the base of the member and started gently twisting the shaft as he continued moving his head, looking up to make eye contact at Goro, who only blushed more as he felt himself getting even more turned on by the image of Akira sucking him off. He could honestly feel himself so close to his orgasm, it was overwhelming.

“A-Akira...” Goro whimpered. “Akira I’m so close… I’m going to—”

His sentence was cut off as he came with a loud moan, spilling himself into Akira’s mouth with a gasp.

Akira stopped moving his head and Goro felt him remove his mouth from his member and gently moved to kiss him again, letting him taste himself on his tongue as Akira moved a hand down to rest on his ass. Goro hungrily kissed him back as he fumbled his hands over Akira’s clothes, clumsily undoing the buttons of Akira’s shirt before Akira shrugged it off and unzipped his pants and took off Goro's.

Akira separated from the kiss as he moved to the bedside table, opening the drawer and reaching in until he pulled out a small tinfoil packet and a bottle of lube before closing the drawer and turning back around to face Goro.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked gently.

Goro nodded, feeling his heart pound in excitement (with only the slightest bit of nervousness) as he did. “Please.” He pleaded. “I want you so much.”

Akira nodded as he quickly took off his own underwear before he moved to gently take off Goro’s. Akira quickly took the condom packet and tore it open with his teeth before he rolled its contents onto his member. He then reached for the bottle of lube and gently squeezed some onto his middle and index finger.

Goro then felt Akira push his legs apart before he moved closer, leaning over him to press a kiss to his lips before he felt Akira move his wet fingers to his entrance before gently pushing his fingers in.

Goro hissed in discomfort at the feeling of the cold lube and Akira's fingers inside of him, but soon those feelings of discomfort were replaced by feelings of immense pleasure as Akira twisted his fingers inside of him.

“Akira…” Goro groaned as the buildup of pleasure was starting to get too much. “I want you inside me.” He practically demanded.

Akira laughed. “You’re pretty impatient, aren’t you?” He teased.

“I just want to do this with you before our time runs out.” Goro said indignantly, feeling flustered.

“Okay, all the preparation was done anyway.” Akira said as he gently pressed a kiss to Goro's lips as he moved closer and spread Goro's legs wider.

Goro then felt the tip of Akira’s member gently press against his entrance as Akira gently moved a hand up to Goro's hair and tangled his fingers through it, kissing him as he slowly eased his way in.

Goro gasped and clutched at the bedsheets as he felt Akira enter him.

Akira stopped and looked at him in concern.

“Are you okay?” He asked. “Did I hurt you?”

Goro shook his head. “I’m just not used to this.” He said, loosening his grip on the bedsheets. “It’s only a little bit uncomfortable, but I think I’ll be okay.” He said reassuringly, shifting himself into a more comfortable position as he gently wrapped his arms and legs around Akira. “Keep going.” He urged.

Akira nodded before he gently started thrusting into Goro, gently moving his hips in a slow, steady rhythm, closing his eyes in pleasure as he did so.

Goro moaned as he felt Akira's member move inside of him, it felt so good, he couldn’t focus on anything else, be it the creaking of the bedsprings or the soft fabric of the bedsheets against his back, or the gentle but bright glow of the moonlight that streamed in through the window and illuminated the room.

“K-keep going.” Goro breathed, urging Akira to continue. “Having you inside me feels amazing. Move your hips faster.” He begged, letting out another moan as Akira’s member kept moving inside of him.

“G-Goro you feel so good.” Akira moaned, gradually increasing his speed and thrusting deeper into Goro. “I can feel you sucking me in.”

Goro felt Akira's member hit his sweet spot and almost instantly, Goro started to feel his legs start to tremble and his vision and mind started to get hazy as he started to feel engulfed by the immense amount of pleasure he was feeling.

“Right there… Akira right there…ahhh!” Goro pleaded, his words getting cut off as he let out another moan.

“Ahh Goro…” Akira groaned as he tightened his hand's grip in Goro's hair. “You’re so tight, it feels amazing.” He reached his other hand and gently wrapped it around Goro's swollen member, prompting a loud whine from the brown-haired boy before he gently started moving his hand up and down along it.

“D-Don’t stop…” Goro moaned loudly, squeezing his eyes shut as he started to feel tears form at the corners of his eyes as he felt his orgasm close. “I think I’m going to come.”

“Just a little longer…” Akira pleaded as he tried to keep his movements steady as he gripped Goro's hair tighter. “I want us to come together.”

Goro grit his teeth and tried to stifle his hitched breaths and moans while Akira kept moving inside of him, focusing on trying to delay his orgasm in any way he could. However, soon the pleasure was too much for him.

“Akira I’m sorry I’m going to… ahh!” Goro's sentence was cut off with a loud moan as he came, arching his back and spilling himself all over his stomach and chest as he did so, feeling his legs tremble as he dug and scratched his nails all along Akira’s back.

Akira’s thrusts slowed down as Goro came, but he came with a shudder and a groan just minutes after.

Akira removed himself and flopped down next to Goro on the bed, catching his breath before he got up to go get a towel Akira disappeared into the next room and reappeared with a white towel in hand and walked back to the bed. He climbed back onto the mattress and Goro then felt the soft fabric of the towel being gently rubbed over his stomach and chest before Akira removed it and threw it on the ground before he climbed into bed and drew the covers around the both of them.

A comfortable silence settled around the both of them as they basked in the comforting warmth of each other’s afterglow.

Eventually though, Goro broke the silence.

“I’m sorry I couldn't last very long.” He apologized.

“That’s alright.” Akira said as he rolled over to face Goro. “It felt so good, I hadn’t felt like wanting to come so fast in such a long time.” He paused. “So... you’ve never slept with another man before?” Akira asked . “That’s not a critique, by the way. This was freaking amazing!” He said.

Goro shook his head, blushing as he suddenly felt a little bashful. “No, never with a man.” He admitted. “Never… with anyone actually.”

“Really? Not anyone?” Akira asked incredulously as he propped himself up on his arm. “Like, what, in town? Or—”

“No. No one.” Goro said. “No one anywhere.”

“Wow.” Akira breathed as he snuggled closer to Goro. “I guess you can say I deflowered you then.” He joked teasingly.

“Shut up.” Goro said with a small laugh as he playfully shoved Akira’s head away from him. “This isn’t Victorian England.” He teased.

Akira laughed before he calmed down and looked at Goro.

“You’ve had relationships before though.” Akira said, although his statement sounded more like a thinly-veiled question than anything else.

Goro shook his head. “No.” He admitted.

“Ummm, hello? The last time you told me, you have a fiancé.” Akira pointed out.

“Yeah, well, it’s…. complicated.” Goro said, sighing as he looked towards the ceiling.

“Yeah, I’ll say.” Akira commented.

“So, when did you know?” Goro asked, changing the subject. “That you liked men, I mean.”

“I like women too.” Akira pointed out. “You know, it’d be pretty unfair if just one gender could have me. Gotta give equal opportunities to everyone.” He joked.

“Alright.” Goro snorted, keeping back a laugh at Akira’s quip. “But when did you know?” He asked. “Did you always know?”

“I was… married to a woman.” Akira admitted. His voice started to take on a slightly sadder tone. “I was married for a long time.” He continued. “But I always knew. I mean, I’d be attracted to other guys, like my co-workers, or friends, or some waiters that served me. They were crushes.” He explained. “They were all crushes.” He said once more, his voice even sadder. “But I never acted on any of them. I was really in love with her. But then she decided not to stick around…” He trailed off, seemingly too sad to continue talking.

“I’m sorry.” Goro said as he gently wrapped an arm around Akira and pulled him closer. “If I had known that I would lead you to talk about such a hard topic, I wouldn’t have asked.”

Akira shook his head. “It’s okay.” He said, cracking a slight smile. “Now you know my tragic backstory.” He joked once more before he took a deep, almost resigned-sounding breath. “But yeah, now it’s just me passing through, just here to have a good time before I leave.”

There was a silence that fell over the pair before Goro looked at the clock on Akira’s bedside table.

“Time’s nearly up.” Goro pointed out. “We’ve only got fifteen minutes until midnight.”

“Then let’s just lie here.” Akira said as he pulled the blankets tighter around both him and Goro and snuggled closer to him. Goro moved his hand to gently caress and cup Akira’s face before he gently pulled their bodies as close as they could possibly get together, feeling the comforting warmth of Akira’s skin on his own before eventually, the clock struck midnight and Goro’s world went dark.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut in the second chapter... This is a new record for me. 
> 
> Anyway I'll be at a convention all weekend so I'll upload the Shukita side after I get back on Monday!
> 
> Until the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

The next week, Goro went back to Club Newcomer like he had done the week before, and the one preceding it. After the events of the previous week, Goro was eager, if also slightly anxious, to see Akira again. He had to admit (while he tried to keep himself from blushing at the thought of the kind, black-haired boy), that since that first encounter, Akira had always been on his mind somehow, even if in the most vaguest of senses. But now, after what transpired the previous week he couldn’t get Akira out of his thoughts, be it his smile, or his laugh, or his voice, or even the gentle, warm way that Akira had held him that night.

As he stepped inside the club, Goro was greeted with the haze, glitter, heat, and booming bass that was starting to become so familiar to him. He scanned the crowd to look for any sign of the black-haired boy, but he found none. He walked past the Arcade, looking inside to see if Akira was there, but all he saw was the orange-haired girl that he had talked to on his first day.

“Hey, it’s you!” She said, looking up from her game. “Here to join me for that two-player match?” She asked.

Goro shook his head. “Sorry. I know I said the last time that I’d join you some other time, but that would have to wait a bit longer. I’m still looking for someone.”

“Awww.” The girl said disappointedly. “Alright I understand. Good luck in your search! You owe me a match the next time I see you!”

“Alright, Thank you.” Goro said as he turned and walked back out into the club and walked across to where the booths were, searching that area only to find no sign of Akira, Inwardly cursing himself the whole time for forgetting to ask for Akira’s number when he had the chance.

Feeling the slight onset of anxiety creep into his heart, Goro turned and walked in the direction of the Velvet Room until he was standing in front of the door, where the twin security guards, much like they had been doing two weeks ago, stood by.

“Hey.” He said awkwardly. “I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Goro Akechi. I was with Akira Kurusu two weeks ago when you let us in?”

“Yeah we remember you.” Caroline said. “Can’t say we want you here though. What do you want?” She snapped, reaching for her nightstick before Justine placed her hand on her wrist, stopping her.

“Right, Sorry!” Goro said apologetically. “I was wondering, have you seen Akira anywhere? Did he come in by any chance?”

“No, He didn’t.” Justine said calmly as she wrote something down on her clipboard.

“And even if he did come through here, we wouldn’t let you in without his express permission.” Caroline said. “Now get out of here before I hit you.”

“Y-yes, of course.” Goro said nervously, taking his cue to leave. “Thank you so much. Sorry for bothering you!”

And with that, he turned tail and headed back to the club before he approached the bar.

“Excuse me?” Goro asked, getting the attention of the bartender. “Have you seen Akira?”

“Say that again?” The bartender said as they finished drying off a glass.

“Akira?” Goro said again. “Akira Kurusu? You know, black hair, glasses, often wears jeans and a white button-up over a black T-shirt, or a black jacket over a white hoodie?” Goro continued, giving a specification.

“Oh, him!” The bartender said, suddenly making the connection. “No, I haven’t seen him at all tonight. Have you checked the Velvet Room Lounge?” They asked.

Goro shook his head. “I already did. The guards chased me out and told me he wasn’t there.”

“Oh, are we talking about Akira?” Goro heard a female voice behind him. He turned and saw the short, orange-haired girl with headphones he met at the arcade.

“Sorry, I overheard you guys talking about him. Thought I could help out.” She said as she hopped up on the barstool. “I’m Futaba, by the way.”

“Do you know where Akira is?” Goro asked, turning to Futaba.

“I mean, not right now I don’t since he didn’t come in and challenge me to my two-player arcade game like he usually does, but my first guess would be that if he isn’t here or at my Dad’s café, he’d probably be at Shujin since he goes there sometimes.” She said before she turned to the bartender and ordered a drink.

“Wait, what’s ‘Shujin?’” Goro asked.

“Man, you must be really new here.” Futaba said as the bartender handed her the drink she ordered and she took a sip from it. “If you don’t know what Shujin is, then you don’t really want to know.”

“Well, I need to find Akira, so I kind of need to know.” Goro said urgently.

“Well dang, hang on, let me write down the address for you then, Mr. Desperate.” She teased as she took a napkin and a pen and started writing down the address before handing it to Goro.

“Thank you, Futaba!” Goro said, as he turned and quickly headed out of the club and into the streets.

Looking around for a means of transportation, Goro found a bike rack full of bicycles of various shapes, sizes, and colors with a sign in front of it reading “FREE TO USE.” Walking over, Goro took a black bicycle out of the rack before he got on and started pedaling in the direction of the nearest open café.

~~~~~~

Goro’s visit at Café LeBlanc was short, although pleasant. He had parked his bike outside before walking inside the cozy café and talking to the older man that was running the café, who introduced himself as Sojiro before he asked about Futaba’s whereabouts before Goro asked about Akira’s. Sojiro had ended up telling Goro that he hadn’t seen Akira, which led Goro to end up bidding the man good-bye before he left.

And that was how, after asking around, Goro finally found himself pedaling along the dark stretch of highway toward a large, semi-lit industrial looking building.

As he continued along the road, a flatbed truck zoomed past in his direction, blaring loud rock music while a couple people stood in the back and loudly shouted as they drank from beer bottles. Goro flinched at the loud noise and the blinding flash of light from the car’s headlights before he refocused on the road in front of him.

As he pulled up to the building, Goro realized Shujin was an abandoned warehouse that looked like it had been repurposed as some kind of rock club of some sort, judging from the loud shredding of guitars and drum riffs coming from inside of it. Goro got off his bike before he locked it to the chain-link fence that surrounded the building, hoping and praying that it wouldn’t get stolen what with the shady-looking location the building was in.

Taking a deep breath, Goro walked in past the doors of the building and into the fray.

Almost immediately, the loud, cacophonous clashing of of drums, shouts, and guitar riffs nearly almost assaulted Goro’s ears. In alarm, he covered his ears with his hands to muffle the noise before he slowly lowered them as he got used to the music as he looked around.

As opposed to the glitter and neon of Club Newcomer, Shujin was all hard edges, smoke, leather, and spikes. Throngs of leather-clad people with piercings and tattoos all drinking and smoking lined the hallways and filled side rooms, where cages where people fought and smashed bottles could be seen.

The longer Goro walked through the crowds, the more he felt out of place, with his clean, crisp button-up and slacks. Still, he pushed through, occasionally asking the least intimidating-looking people he could find if they had seen Akira, only to have his questions be answered with either shaken heads or “No” or “Try asking somewhere else.”

Eventually though, his search started turning up results when he approached a blonde-haired boy with short hair who was talking to a blonde girl with pigtails and a meek-looking boy with short, dark, spiky hair.

“Excuse me?” Goro asked, getting the attention of the blond boy. “Have you seen Akira? He’s got black hair and glasses and sometimes wears a hoodie with a black jacket?”

“Oh dude I know him, he hangs out with us all the time!” The blond said with a laugh. “Can’t say I’ve seen him tonight though.” He continued. “I’m Ryuji, and that is Ann and Yuki, by the way.” He added, gesturing to the other two people he was talking to.

“Did Akira ditch you too?” The dark-haired boy, Yuki, asked.

“What do you mean, ‘too?’” Goro asked, raising an eyebrow. He had his suspicions, given Akira's behavior the previous week, but he needed a confirmation.

“He has a history.” He said, a look of sadness crossing over his face as Ryuji and Ann comfortingly patted his back. “He did it to me too a while back, so I’m kind of sad he’s still doing that.”

“It’s going to be alright, Yuki.” Ann said before she turned to Goro. “If he’s worth it though, you should go look for him.” She said. “I’ve seen him show up in other time periods, like the early-2000’s, the 90’s… I’ve even seen him show up in the 80’s once.”

“Here,” Ryuji said, pulling out his phone and handing it to Goro. “Enter your number. If Akira comes by tonight, we’ll let you know.”

Goro took the phone and entered his contact info before handing it back to Ryuji. “Thank you!” He said appreciatively.

“No problem!” Ryuji said as he grinned, showing off his sharpened teeth as he did.

Goro was starting to feel a little dizzy from all the loud noises and heat in the club. “I need to go now.” He said. “But you guys have been a huge help.”

“You’ve only got two hours until midnight, so good luck!” Ann said. “I hope you find him!”

Goro nodded before he waved and turned around to leave.

When Goro stepped outside, he found his bike exactly where he had left it, much to his relief. Unlocking it, he hopped on before he started pedaling away from Shujin and toward the direction of Akira’s beach house.

~~~~~

When Goro reached Akira’s beach house, the first thing he noticed was how all of the lights were out. Still, that did not deter him from parking his bike and climbing the front steps before he rang the doorbell.

“Akira?” Goro asked as he knocked on the glass window of the door. “Akira, are you there?”

There was no answer. Goro walked around to a couple windows and even the back door and tried knocking, only to get an almost-deafening seeming lack of response.

Stepping off the porch Goro checked the watch on his wrist for the time. “10:50” The watch read. Sighing disappointedly, Goro walked a couple steps out onto the beach before he sat down and watched the ocean, before he eventually got up, took his bike and made his way back to Club Newcomer to make good on his promise to play that arcade match with Futaba, knowing he had nothing better to do for the rest of the night.

~~~~~

Before Goro had first arrived on Kosei Island, it had been recommended to him to try visiting the different eras of the island, especially those that he didn’t have much recollection of or even was alive for. However, to experience something earlier than the 2010’s was something that Goro could only begin to find words to describe. Despite not being able to remember much of it due to the fact that he was a very young child during the time period, Goro could certainly appreciate the 2000’s if for the purpose of noticing how different, and yet how similar it was to the 2010’s.

As Goro walked the streets of Kosei City in 2007, he couldn’t help but notice the trends in people’s fashion choices, from tattoo-print graphic tees and distressed bootcut jeans and questionably-cut tank tops and baby doll tops to crimped hair, dyed streaks, and swooped bangs. Looking at his reflection in a nearby storefront window, he himself had the collar of his white polo popped (sans tie) and the first two buttons undone as he shoved his hands into his pockets, being mindful of the big-faced digital watch strapped to his wrist.

As Goro made his way to Club Newcomer, a pack of boys wearing oversized sports jerseys and large, chunky DC sneakers and gold chains cracked open beers outside a storefront while hip-hop music blared from their boombox.

The noise got a little more cacophonous as a girl rolled down the street on her skateboard, sporting pink streaks in her black hair and wearing an equally pink-and-black skull-and-kitten-print zip-up hoodie and red plaid skirt, the loud guitars, drumbeats, and angsty-sounding vocals playing from her Linkin Park CD were loud enough to be heard through her large, clunky headphones even from where Goro was standing several feet away.

This was most certainly not a time period he was used to, he mused as he finally reached the front doors of Club Newcomer. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the doors open and made his way through.

There was considerably less haze in the club than how it was in the 2010’s, but what it lacked in special effects fog, it made up for in extra glitter and strobe lights, almost to the point where Goro would have considered it overkill. In the corner, the DJ switched out some records and scratched at the ones on the turntables.

 _“I just can't get you out of my head_  
_Boy, your lovin' is all I think about_  
_I just can't get you out of my head_  
_Boy, it’s more than I dare to think about”_

The bright, upbeat, catchy music blared from the speakers as Goro pushed through a group of dancing girls with bleached, crimped hair wearing crop tops and low-rise jeans as he scanned the crowd for any sign of Akira, only to find none. Disappointed, he stepped out and went over to the booths, only to find no sign of Akira.

He went back to the entrance of the Velvet Room, only to be aggressively chased out like he had been the previous week. Sighing, he made his way over to the arcade, where he found Futaba challenging Ann to a match on Dance Dance Revolution.

Neither of the girls seemed to notice him as they rapidly stepped on the light-up pads in time to the dance music to match the flashing arrows on the screen.

“You can’t deny it this time, I’m in the lead!” Ann bragged playfully as she tapped out a certain move combo.

“Like Hell am I going to give you the satisfaction of hearing me say it though!” Futaba said as she tried to keep up but did a couple missteps.

“7-STEP MOVE COMBO!” The game’s announcer blared from the speakers. “PLAYER ONE WINS!”

“Heck yeah!” Ann cheered, jumping up and pumping the air triumphantly before she pulled her low-rise jeans up. “Good game though!”

“It was fun!” Futaba said as she stepped off the board. “But I’ll win next time!” She turned and found herself looking at Goro.

“Hey!” She said, grinning. “Here to try another round on Star Forneus?” She asked.

Goro shook his head. “Not yet. I need to do something first, but when I have the time I promise I’ll come back for another rematch.”

“Are you still looking for Akira?” Ann asked as she whipped out her pink flip phone and started pressing some buttons.

Goro nodded. “I am.” He said. “That was what I was going to ask about.” He said. “Have you seen Akira at all today?”

Ann shook her head. “No, I haven’t.” She admitted. “I just texted Ryuji asking if he’s seen Akira since he’s over at Shujin right now. Yuki decided to go to 2010 this week so I won’t be able to hear from him.” She explained.

“Has Ryuji said anything?” Goro asked, perking up in hope. “Has he seen him?”

Ann shook her head and looked back at her phone, which lit up with an incoming message. “Ryuji just replied and apparently he hasn’t seen Akira, but he hasn’t been at Shujin for very long so far.”

“Oh…” Goro said disappointedly.

“I’d say that you should go over to check it out anyway in case he does show up.” Ann suggested. “Ryuji gave me your number so in case I see Akira I’ll text you.” She added.

“Thank you!” Goro said. “I think I’ll head over right now.” He added as he before he walked out of the club.

~~~~~

Goro’s visit to Shujin proved to be short and unfruitful, as was his visit to Akira’s beach house.

As Goro pedaled his bike along the highway back into the city and back in the direction of the nightclub, he couldn’t help but feel a little disheartened. Why did Akira leave? Was he not good enough for him? Where could he even have gone? Couldn’t he at least tell him why he was going to leave?

As Goro pulled up in front of the club and locked his bike into a nearby bike rack, he kept pondering those questions until he found himself back in the arcade.

“I’m back!” He announced to Futaba, who was busy moving some controls of the Star Forneus machine.

“Oh hey!” She said as she exited her game. “Did you find Akira?”

Goro shook his head. “No.” He said sadly. “I spent four hours looking for him and I couldn’t find him.”

“Dang.” Futaba said. “Maybe he went to a different time period?” She asked,

Goro shrugged. “Maybe he did.” He said disappointedly. He looked at his watch. “But I’ve still got another hour left to spend so if you want, we can do that rematch.” He suggested.

“That sounds great!” Futaba said as she inserted a couple coins into the machine and stepped aside to make room for Goro. The music started up and soon, Goro and Futaba were playing as two space rangers that had to shoot asteroids.

Goro got so wrapped up in the gameplay that he lost track of time until his flow of concentration got broken once he hit the seventh level and his player got struck by an asteroid.

“GAME OVER!” The screen started blinking.

“Damn! And we were three levels away from winning the game!” Futaba said as she exited the game. “Good game though.” She added. “Want to try again?”

“Sure.” He said, looking at his watch, reading “11:45” on the display. He looked up, and saw someone familiar out of the corner of his eye. Goro turned to get a better look, and there, in the crowd was Akira. He was wearing a black V-neck tee layered under a white hoodie and wearing red skinny jeans and had his hair straightened into a swooped bowlcut and his glasses were bigger and more squared than they were in the 2010’s, but it was unmistakably him, Goro could recognize that face anywhere.

Akira made brief eye contact with Goro from his spot in the crowd before he turned and was engulfed by the throng of dancing people.

“On second thought.” Goro said, turning to Futaba. “That may have to wait for another time.”

And with that, he ran into the crowd, desperately searching for the black-haired boy and finding him absolutely nowhere to be seen.

Goro ran out to the booths, only to find his search turn up empty. He then ran outside and into the streets, searching for any sign of the boy. Further down the road, Goro saw him walking.

“Hey! Wait up!” Goro shouted as he ran after him.

Akira turned around to look at him before he started walking faster.

“I said wait!” Goro shouted as he picked up the pace of his footsteps. He blinked, and suddenly, Akira was gone.

Goro blinked, and continued running to the spot where he had last seen Akira, only to find no sign of the black-haired boy, as if he had just disappeared without a trace. Disappointed, He stopped in his tracks and sat down where he was on the sidewalk in and hugged his knees to his chest in sadness and exhaustion, looking at the watch on his wrist until his time ran out.

~~~~~

On his third week after Akira disappeared on him, Goro finally found him.

After the previous week’s trip to the 80’s, in which Goro didn’t want to remember any of it, if for the sheer fact that he thought the fashion and hair choices of the decade (particularly the ones that he made) were ATROCIOUS in hindsight (despite the fact the music and TV was good), Goro was RELIEVED to be in 1997. He was secretly glad that he hadn’t found Akira during his time in 1985, he wasn’t sure he would have been able to handle the amount of embarrassment he would have felt had Akira seen him in his outfit choice of mullet hairstyle, high-waisted jeans, button-up, and argyle sweater tied around his neck. Looking back on it, Goro admitted that he should have gone with the “feathered hair” or the side-gelled hair look, not that those options were really that much better.

Still, As Goro stood in the middle of the sidewalk in front of Club Newcomer, he was glad that the 90’s were a little less outrageous in terms of fashion choices. As Goro looked in his reflection in a storefront window, he was grateful that for once, his usual hairstyle fit in with that of the decade, and that his outfit choice of khaki slacks and grey silk blazer over a thin white shirt was significantly less embarrassing and wasn’t making his skin overheat.

As he turned back to the club, Goro walked in through the doors, pushing past until he was inside. The club in 1997 still had some of the extra neon from the 80’s, but the disco ball and lava lamp decorations had been replaced by blinking circular multi-color lights and the floor had been tiled in a black-and-white checkerboard pattern. In the corner, the DJ continued to play the music.

 _“She's into new sensation_  
_New kicks in the candlelight_  
_She's got a new addiction_  
_For every day and night”_

The crowds of people were dancing to the upbeat music as always, and so far, Goro hadn’t seen Akira when he did his search. Almost out of habit now, he headed to the arcade to go find Futaba.

Goro found Futaba exactly where he last saw her the previous week, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of one of the arcade machines as she aggressively tapped on the buttons of her Gameboy Color while the distinctive 8-bit sound of the Pokemon battle theme could be heard.

“Hey!” She said, acknowledging Goro’s presence. “Any luck finding Akira tonight?” She asked.

Goro shook his head. “I’m thinking maybe I should switch things up a bit and spend an hour here at the club before I go check Shujin for him.” He said. “Do we want to try a rematch?” He asked.

“Of course!” Futaba said as she turned her console off and walked over to the Star Forneus machine and inserted the coins.

Goro stepped closer to the machine, and soon, the two got to blasting asteroids together in the virtual world, just like they had done the previous few weeks, crawling through the levels until Goro and Futaba were finally facing off the final boss.

“You ready?” Futaba asked as the screen started flashing a countdown in preparation.

“Let’s do this.” Goro said enthusiastically before the game launched the both of them into a sequence that required rapid-fire team combos to be executed towards the boss.

Finally, though, Goro fired one last shot at the boss, which exploded before the screen started flashing “CONGRATULATIONS” as a sequence involving the two player characters getting knighted as heroes before ascending to god-hood was shown.

“We did it!” Futaba exclaimed happily. “I can’t believe we did it! Holy shit.” She said as tears of happiness started forming at the corners of her eyes.

“I can’t believe it either.” Goro said, shaking his head in disbelief as he did so.

“Thank you so much!” She exclaimed.

“That was a lot of fun, Thank you.” Goro said as he briefly turned his head and looked around to reorient himself with his surroundings…. And met eyes with a very familiar face ten feet away from him.

Akira stared back at him, his expression akin to that of a deer in the headlights. In that moment, the music started changing into a slower one as the speed of the flashing lights in the club started slowing down and couples started forming and dancing closely in time. The blonde girl with a hairband that Akira was with leaned in to ask him a question, gesturing to the dancefloor before Akira shook his head and started walking towards the restroom.

 _“We were as one babe_  
_For a moment in time_  
_And it seemed everlasting_  
_That you would always be mine…”_

The music kept playing as Goro stared after Akira in a disbelieving stupor as he realized that after spending weeks looking, he finally found Akira. That moment was short-lived as Goro felt Futaba aggressively elbow him in the ribs.

“What are you standing around here for?” She hissed. “Go after him.”

Goro snapped out of his daze. “You don’t need to tell me twice.” He said before he hurried after Akira, pushing his way through the crowd.

“Hey! Wait! Hold on!” Goro shouted, Running after Akira until he reached him, grabbing him by the wrist before he could run further.

“Let go of me!” Akira shouted.

“No, Not until you tell me what is happening.” Goro said.

“Why are you here?” Akira asked harshly, pulling his wrist out of Goro’s grasp.

“I was looking for you! I wanted to see you again.” Goro said, feeling a bit taken aback by the tone of Akira’s voice. “Where did you go?”

“I like a change of music.” Akira said matter-of-factly.

“How the hell is this your Era?” Goro asked, gesturing to Akira’s outfit, which consisted of a faded denim jacket over a baggy red plaid shirt layered over a white t-shirt and over faded denim jeans and to his hair, which, although still curly, had been grown down to his chin.

“Okay but then I have to flip the question around and ask you how this is NOT your era.” Akira said, very clearly avoiding the bigger issue at hand as he gestured to Goro. “I mean with your hair, you blend right in.”

“Why did you hide from me?” Goro asked angrily.

“Okay I thought you were smart enough for me to not have to say this.” Akira said. “But one, I didn’t hide from you, I merely tried running to keep my space. Two, I don’t have to owe you anything, and three, see point number two.” He said before he headed into the restroom.

Goro angrily followed after Akira. “This isn’t about who owes who, and you know this!” Goro said as he found Akira fixing his clothes in front of the mirror. “This is about manners! You should at least tell me why you just left.”

“You don’t know who I am or what this means to me!” Akira said as he turned to Goro. “Spending time on Kosei Island means fun.” He continued. “Or at least, it should.” He added. “And this? This is not fun, alright?”

“Oh, so you don’t feel bad? You're just going to leave me behind now, is that it?" Goro retorted, eliciting a brief look of pain and guilt to pass over Akira’s face before it was replaced once more with a hardened expression. “Maybe you should feel bad, or at least feel SOMETHING.” He added before he turned and angrily stormed out of the restroom, leaving Akira standing alone in front of the mirror.

In anger and frustration, Akira punched the mirror, causing it to crack as he did. He looked at his knuckles, which were unscratched even though he had shattered the glass. He looked up to the mirror, only to see that the crack had been smoothed over, like as if he had never punched it in the first place.

Sighing, he turned and walked out of the restroom, through the club and outside to go find Goro, stepping out the doors and into the fresh night air as he did.

“Hey, Excuse me?” He asked, approaching a couple in a parked nearby open-top convertible. “Have you seen a guy? Around 19 or 20, chin length brown hair, was wearing a grey blazer?”

The woman wordlessly pointed up at the top of the club building, where Akira saw Goro sitting at the edge of the ledge of the roof.

“Oh fuck no.” Akira said as he sprinted over to the side of the building, where the fire escape ladders were and started climbing, all the while thanking his young, agile body for being strong enough to let him pull and climb his way up the ladder until he reached the top.

“Hey.” Akira said as he stepped off the last rung of the ladder and onto the roof. “I hope you at least have your pain slider set to ‘Zero.’”

Goro nodded, not looking at Akira.

Akira cleared his throat. “Hey look…” He began.

“How many of them do you think are dead?” Goro asked, looking down toward the people walking in the streets below him. “Like, what percentage?”

Akira paused, caught off-guard by Goro’s question. “Like, as in full-timers?” He asked.

Goro nodded.

Akira briefly thought, and then spoke. “I’d say, maybe eighty or eighty-five percent?” He paused before he finished his previous thought. “Hey look, I’m sorry.”

Goro shook his head. “I’m not going to jump, so don’t worry about that.” He said.

“I know. I’m sorry.” Akira said as Goro finally turned around to face him. “It’s just… The reason why I left… When I first got to Kosei Island, I told myself I wasn’t going to do any… feelings. Just have fun and when my time is up, leave without making any attachments.” He said. “This? Me? I’m scared. I don’t want to like anyone. But when I’m with you, I feel things for you that I haven’t felt for anyone in a really long time, beyond the usual kind of thing I feel on Kosei Island. And it’s just…” He began as he felt the tears start to well up in his eyes and his heart start to ache as he thought more. “I don’t know how much time there is left for me. I wasn’t prepared for you… For wanting something. I—”

Akira’s sentence was suddenly cut off as he felt Goro quickly reach and cup his face in his hands and press his lips against his own.

Akira felt the tears in his eyes spill out as he closed his eyes and kissed Goro back. Akira felt Goro briefly separate before he leaned back in and kissed his eyes and his tear-streaked cheeks.

 “We have right now.” Goro whispered gently. “How about we start there?” He suggested.

“My place?” Akira asked as he intertwined his fingers with Goro’s.

Goro nodded before he hopped down off the ledge and onto the cement of the roof before Akira led him down to his car.

~~~~~

The waves were crashing on the shore as Goro slid out of Akira’s bed, grabbing the soft, silky robe at the edge of it before slipping it on and making his way outside to the porch, where he sat down on the front step and watched the ocean. A minute later, Akira, clad in a matching robe and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, walked out and sat down next to him, gently leaning his head on Goro’s shoulder as he did so.

There as a gentle silence between the two as they watched the waves calmly lap at the shore. Eventually though, Goro sighed and broke the silence.

“So I guess, next week it is.” He sighed, looking up at the moon. “Next week I’m getting married.”

“Next week?” Akira said in shock, turning to look at Goro’s face. “To nice Miss Haru?” He said, a hint of a teasing tone creeping into his voice. “Are you sure you’re going through with that?” He asked, playfully nudging Goro’s shoulder.

“I have to.” Goro said, still not taking his eyes off of the sky.

“You have to?” Akira asked, partly in confusion, partly in disbelief.

“Mmmhm.” Goro said, nodding. He paused. “She really is a nice girl.” He said. “I mean, my family doesn’t approve, but then again, they quite honestly have never approved of neither anything I did nor of my existence in the first place.” He added. “But that won’t stop us.” He paused. “I know she kind of pities me though. And that does piss me off a little bit.” He instantly caught himself. “But that’s not fair, because she’s—”

Akira shushed him, pressing a gentle kiss to his temple and gently wrapping the other end of the blanket around Goro’s shoulders.

“You said you don’t know how much time there is.” Goro said, deflecting the topic of conversation away from him. “What exactly does that mean?”

“They tell me three months.” Akira said grimly, pulling the fabric of his robe tighter around himself. “The cancer has basically spread everywhere.” He added. “Then again, the doctors said ‘three months’ six months ago so I don’t really know what exactly to believe because what do they know?” He asked bitterly. “This doesn’t even feel like anything.” He said offhandedly as he rubbed his hands over the fabric of his silk robe.

“But will you stay here after?” Goro asked, turning to face Akira.

“Nope.” Akira said resolutely. “When I am gone, I am GONE.” He said, emphasizing the last word.

 “But why though?” Goro asked in shock. “That’s insa— I mean, What’s your reason?” He added.

Akira paused, pressing his mouth into a thin line as a pained look entered his eyes before he finally spoke.

“Makoto.” He said.

“Who?” Goro asked.

“My wife. Her name was Makoto.” Akira explained as he looked away. “She died just two years ago. We had the opportunity to stay Kosei Island, but she didn’t take it. She didn’t want to take it. Didn’t even consider visiting for the trial run.”

“Why wouldn’t anyone want to take it?” Goro asked in bewilderment.

“I mean, she had her viewpoint.” Akira explained. “There were some things she believed in and others that she didn’t believe in, and this place was one of them.”

“Oh my god.” Goro said in shock at all of what he had been told. “I mean, I didn’t know if I wanted to try it either, but damn, if I hadn’t I would never had met someone like you.” He said, his voice equal parts affection and appreciation as he cracked a smile.

Akira snorted. “Yeah you could have.” He said humorously.

“No, I wouldn’t.” Goro insisted, shaking his head.

“I mean, we probably could have met outside of this.” Akira pointed out.

“No, I don’t think so.” Goro said. “You would not have got me. If we met, like actually met, you probably wouldn’t have liked me.”

Akira gave him a look of doubt.

“At all.” Goro repeated, emphasizing his point.

“Try meee.” Akira said teasingly, nudging Goro’s shoulder.

“No, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to spend time with me.” Goro insisted, a dejected tone taking over his voice. “A lot of the other important people in my life said the same thing and they all ended up getting bored or stopped liking me and they all left. And I’m sure you’d be the same. I mean, what’s the point? Where are you anyway? Okinawa? Tatsumi Port Island?”

“Sumaru.” Akira responded. “So come on.” He said eagerly. “I showed you mine, now you gotta show me yours.” He said, smirking at the innuendo he just made.

Goro snorted, keeping a small laugh from escaping his mouth before he finally answered. “Tokyo.” He replied.

“That’s no distance at all!” Akira exclaimed.

“Um… yeah it is. You’re on the coast.” Goro pointed out.

“With the recent improvements to the rail lines in the last couple of years, I could probably reach you in about an hour.” Akira said.

“Please don’t.” Goro said, pulling his robe tighter around him like a security blanket. “I don’t want you to see me.” He explained. He paused. “I’m scared.” He whispered quietly.

“And I’m dying.” Akira said gently, smoothing Goro’s hair down and pressing a kiss to it. “Whatever you are can’t scare me.” He added. “So let me come visit.”

Goro sighed in resignation, although not at all displeased at it. “Okay.” He said, nodding. “Next week?” He asked.

Akira nodded. “It’s a date.” He said.

Goro felt Akira wrap his arms around him and pull him close, feeling each other’s warmth as they watched the sky and the ocean until eventually, the clocks hit midnight, and their worlds went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for reminding everyone of their (let's face it) questionable fashion choices that they made when they were teenagers lmfao. Writing the early-2000's was such a trip, I delayed writing this chapter because I needed to emotionally prepare to write it lmao. 
> 
> Tbh the reason why i didn't explicitly show the boys in the 80's at least once despite the original source was set in the 80's was because I would have had to write Goro with a mullet for a full scene and honestly he's suffered enough, I was not going to do that to him or to me lmfao.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: This chapter contains mentions of homophobia, attempted suicide, and describes an act of medically-assisted suicide as well as a ton of other medical imagery. If you're sensitive to this, please proceed with caution.

The light of the mid-morning sun was streaming in through the window of the hospice room when Akira woke up in his bed the next week, the sound of beeping machines and the humming of his respirator greeting his ears as he resurfaced into consciousness. Blinking his eyes blearily, he reached around on the bedside table, feeling his joints ache with the movement until he made contact with his glasses, grabbing them by the hinges until he slid them onto his face, the pale, sallow wrinkles of the skin of his hand showing up in his peripheral vision as his world came back into focus. Unlike on Kosei Island, here, Akira very much needed those glasses in order to see, and as his eyes refocused, he took in the familiar sight of his bare, sterile living environment.

Pressing a button on a remote next to his bed, Akira slowly inclined his mattress until he was sitting up somewhat more before he pressed another button. Almost immediately, a black-haired young man wearing nurse’s scrubs rushed into the room.

“I hope you have a very good reason for interrupting my coffee break, Kurusu-san.” He said, rubbing his eyes and scowling slightly as he tossed his empty coffee cup into the nearby trash can before he tapped out of his phone app, effectively silencing the sound of the computerized gunshot noises coming from his game.

“Only that today is the day I visit Tokyo.” Akira said, chuckling at the nurse’s disgruntlement. “I’ve only been reminding you about this every day since last week, Shinya-san.”

Shinya’s eyes widened before he looked at the calendar on the wall. “June 13, 2068” The calendar read, with the words “Visit to Tokyo” written in big block writing under the date. “Shit! You’re right!” Shinya exclaimed, smacking the heel of his hand to his forehead. “How could I forget, I even got clearance to go today… Here, let me help you get out of bed.” He said as he rushed over to the other side of the bed and started to help Akira to sit up and then to stand up.

Once Akira was standing on his feet, he grabbed the cane leaning at the edge of his bed and leaned his weight against it.

“Will you need my assistance in helping you change today, or will you be okay?” Shinya asked.

Akira shook his head. “I think I can do that on my own today.” He said. “Thank you though.”

Shinya nodded. “I’ll leave you to it. Just beep me when you’re ready and I can arrange for transportation and grab breakfast for the both of us.”

“Thank you.” Akira said, nodding in acknowledgement. Shinya turned and started walking out of the room before he stopped and turned back around.

“Ham and cheese croissant with drip coffee, right?” Shinya asked in clarification.

“You’re my favorite nurse here, if only because you know my favorite breakfast order.” Akira teased, cracking a smile as he did.

“I am honored to hear this.” Shinya said in a half-joking tone before he turned and walked out as Akira grabbed a change of clothes and started changing.

Once fully dressed, Akira sat down at the edge of his bed to relieve his feet as he rang the buzzer, staring at his reflection in his room’s mirror as he did. A man with messy black hair peppered with a large amount of white and grey streaks stared back at him, the crow’s feet wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and laugh lines and forehead wrinkles on his face becoming very pronounced as he squinted at his reflection through the glare of the sun’s rays streaming in through the window; all in all, a sight that was quite different from what he saw in the mirrors on Kosei Island.

Akira snapped out of his daze as Shinya reappeared, carrying a container with a croissant and a coffee cup in one hand as he pushed a wheelchair with his other hand. Shinya set down the food on Akira’s bedside table before he helped Akira get into the wheelchair. Once Akira was settled, Shinya grabbed the food and handed it to Akira before he took the portable lung respirator and placed it under the wheelchair’s seat and gently started pushing the wheelchair out the door and towards the hospice exit, where a large, sleek-looking van was waiting for them.

The pleasant smell of the gentle, cool sea breeze from the seaside next to the hospice greeted Akira as he and Shinya left the building. The driver of the van, upon seeing them, got out of his seat and went to go help Akira into the van before Shinya folded the wheelchair and sat down next to Akira. The driver got back behind the wheel, turning around to briefly nod at Akira and Shinya before he started up the engine and drove away.

Akira finished off his food on the very short drive to the train station and once there, the driver parked the van and helped Shinya in assisting Akira to get him into the wheelchair before Shinya tipped the driver and started pushing Akira’s wheelchair in the direction of the train station’s gates.

The sleek-looking bullet train pulled into the station just as Akira and Shinya arrived at the platform, and getting to the wheelchair-accessible seats was just a manner of telling the station staff and getting assistance.

As soon as Akira and Shinya had settled into their seats, the train started pulling away from the station. Akira stared out the window at all the scenery passing by, making note of all the changes to the landscape passing by that he hadn’t ventured out into in decades before he eventually felt his eyelids grow heavy, closing them as he felt the soft embrace of sleep.

~~~~~

Akira woke up to the feeling of himself being gently shaken awake by Shinya as the train pulled into the station in Tokyo. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he gently wrapped the blanket in his lap around himself as Shinya undid the locks on his wheelchair and carefully wheeled him off of the train, maneuvering around the platforms and elevators until the two found themselves at the curb. Shinya hailed a cab, which immediately pulled up in front of them before the driver got out and helped Akira get into his seat while Shinya folded the wheelchair and got in next to him.

“Where to?” The driver asked, getting back into the vehicle and adjusting the rearview mirror.

“Keijuen Nursing Home.” Shinya replied before Akira could say anything.

The driver nodded before he pulled away from the curb and into traffic. Akira sank back into his seat as he took in the sights of the hustle and bustle of the city until, in what felt like no time at all, the cab pulled into the drop-off area of the nursing home.

Shinya tipped the driver before he got out and helped Akira out of his seat once more, shaking his head at Shinya as the young man was about to start unfolding his wheelchair before Shinya stopped unfolding it and moved to hold onto his shoulders to support him before he led him past the automatic sliding doors of the building.

As Akira entered the lobby, he took in the sights of the sleek, sterile, and streamlined interior. Bare white walls with computers and check-in kiosks lined the sides as the check-in desk was manned by a couple of young-looking secretaries who were fielding phone calls as Akira made sense of his surroundings. A computer screen-faced and chested robot around the same height as Shinya wheeled in from a nearby corridor and delivered a stack of papers to one of the secretaries before it rolled over to where Akira and Shinya were before its screens lit up with a touchscreen keypad and a digitized visitor’s sign-in form. Akira tapped in his name and contact information in before the screen lit up with a note saying “A nurse has been notified to assist you.”

Akira didn’t have to wait long before a nurse showed up and greeted both him and Shinya before she started guiding the two towards a room.

“He’s waiting for you.” She said, turning to face Akira as she stood outside the room. “But one thing I should make clear right now is that he can see and hear you, but he can’t physically respond in any way.”

“I understand.” Akira said, nodding as he turned to look at the door. He had no idea what Goro had meant when he had said that he was scared for Akira to see him, but he had come prepared for just about anything and he was almost starting to get impatient just waiting. He wanted to see Goro already.

The nurse nodded. “In that case, I’ll leave to give you some privacy.” She said before she stepped away.

Shinya moved to open the door for Akira. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.” He said.

As Akira stepped into the sterile, white-walled room, he saw Goro lying still on his bed. He looked to be in his sixties; his hair, although kept in the same length and style that Akira had seen on Kosei island , was grey instead pf brown. His face, although showing signs of his age, was noticeably less wrinkly than Akira’s from what looked like a long-term lack of ability to make facial expressions, his current expression being one of vacancy, with his eyes staring off into what looked like nowhere. Several wires and IV drips were connected to his arms at different points, connecting him to a feed of medicine and his breathing machine, which was emitting a low hum as Akira could hear the soft sounds of Goro’s breathing.

“So this was what he meant.” Akira thought to himself as he took in the sight before him. At least now he had a better sense of how to proceed with this visit. But first, it would be rude to not greet the man he had been waiting to see.

“Hey there, silly.” Akira said affectionately, pulling up a chair and placing it next to Goro’s bedside and leaned over to press a gentle kiss to his forehead before he sat down and gently took his hand, lacing their fingers together. “I’m so glad to finally meet you in person…”

~~~~~

After spending several hours talking to Goro, Akira and Shinya were shooed out of the room by a pair of nurses and an assistance robot, who all moved to start changing the wires, drips, and medicines in Goro’s feed tubes.

As a result, Akira found himself wandering around outside of the room, waiting for the nurses to let him back inside. That was until…

“Excuse me?” Akira heard a soft-sounding woman’s voice say from behind him. He turned and saw, clad in a set of clean nurse’s scrubs, a petite woman in her early thirties with short curly auburn hair.

“Are you Kurusu-San?” She continued, clasping her hands in front of her.

“I am.” Akira replied. “And you are?”

“I’m Haru.” The nurse said, cracking a small, shy smile as she did so.

“Wait, YOU’RE Haru?” Akira said in shock, adjusting his glasses as he looked at the nurse once more. “Holy shit. I’m sorry, I was not expecting this.”

Haru giggled. “It’s fine.” She said reassuringly. “I understand that this may be a lot to take in.” She continued. “There are quite a few things I think we need to talk about. Would you like to discuss this over coffee?” She asked.

Akira looked over to Shinya, who nodded and pulled out his phone before the sound of his game started up before he headed off to a waiting area.

“Sure.” Akira said, turning back to Haru.

Haru put her hand on Akira’s arm to brace him in case he fell before she led him into the small cafeteria and led him in line and placed her order, Akira doing the same before they moved off to wait for their drinks.

The two waited and collected their drinks in silence until they finally sat down at a nearby table.

Haru immediately took a sip from her coffee before she briefly made a displeased expression in reaction to it.

“I apologize for the coffee’s quality beforehand.” She added, breaking the silence as she made small talk. “Most of the patients in this ward aren’t allowed to have any and many of the staff here just need it to stay awake during the late shifts, so I’m afraid that you won’t find anything ‘Café Quality.’” She explained.

Akira chuckled, putting down his coffee cup. “And what do you deem as ‘Café Quality?’” He asked curiously.

Haru’s face flushed in embarrassment. “I mean… like the Viennese or Blue Mountain roasts, for example.” She said. “I just… happened to know a lot about coffee. Not that that really matters right now.” She said, trying to change the topic. “So let’s talk about Goro-san.” She said.

Akira put his cup down. “I’m listening.” He said.

Haru cleared her throat. “I guess I should first say that I think it’s great that you came here to visit before he passes over. In all honesty, you’re the first person in DECADES who’s visited him. His family never visited him once and his fans stopped sending him get-well gifts two years after he was first admitted to the hospital.”

Akira blinked, completely shocked at all he had just heard. “ Wait… Passing over? Decades?? Fans???”

Haru’s face fell. “He didn’t tell you?”

“No, he did not.” Akira said. “He seemed so secretive and ashamed about his past too. All he really said was that he was just visiting.”

“More like sampling the trial version.” Haru said. “I mean, I’ve only known him for the last three years.” She added. “We talk on the comm box.”

“I see.” Akira said.

“So I take it that he never told you how he ended up quadriplegic?” Haru asked.

Akira shook his head. “He didn’t tell me.”

Haru’s face fell. “Honestly, it’s so sad to think about.” She said. “He’s had a rough life from the very beginning. He was the illegitimate child of a powerful politician, and his mother committed suicide from all the grief and guilt when he was three, leaving him to be passed around the foster care system until he turned 18 and moved out. At that point, he found out who his father was, Masayoshi Shido, and got in contact with him, and Shido just ended up using him as his lackey to carry out a lot of corrupt actions to help his campaign behind the scenes of Goro-san’s TV documentary series following his exploits as a teenage detective.”

“That’s awful…” Akira commented, starting to feel upset over what he just learned.

“It gets worse.” Haru commented. “Goro-san’s father didn’t love him at all, especially the fact that having an illegitimate child would look bad for his campaign prospects, but since Goro-san was so persistent in wanting validation from his father, Shido ended up just using him and abusing him. That was until one day someone came to Shido with some information that he learned that Goro-san was gay. And well, having an illegitimate son was already bad enough in Shido’s eyes but having an illegitimate son who is also gay was something that he considered so ‘disgusting’ and ‘unacceptable’ that he threw Goro-san out, cut him off, and threatened to destroy his entire life and career. And Goro-san was so overcome with grief that one night he took his bike out to go find a high place to jump off from. He wasn’t looking where he was going when he was bicycling through the city streets, and he ended up getting hit by a car. And he’s been on life support ever since.”

“When he was just 19?” Akira asked, feeling sad at the story he had heard.

Haru nodded. “Almost 50 years ago.” She added. “He’s been living off of government disability paychecks ever since, which, thankfully was made possible because Shido’s campaign eventually failed, otherwise Shido would have enacted a plan to cut funding to that. This has basically been Goro-san’s whole lifetime, and Kosei Island is a huge deal for him. One of the biggest deals, actually. I mean, he met the minimum age requirements to start going to Kosei Island about a year ago but only recently decided to try the trial period and pass over because he wanted his chance to restart to be perfect.” She continued. “But for now, until he passes over and makes this permanent, he’s on a 5-hour weekly time limit. But I guess you’re the same.”

Akira chuckled cynically. “They ration it out. They don’t trust us with more.” He explained. “They say you go crazy if you have too much, or you’ll dissociate from body and mind, like that doesn’t already happen in every senior home.”

“I mean, the system is there for therapeutic reasons, mainly for the sake of immersive nostalgic therapy. It’s supposed to help a lot with Alzheimer’s”. Haru pointed out. “But that technology has been around for decades ever since the project was first started by a team headed by the programmer Futaba Sakura and her mother, cognitive scientist Wakaba Isshiki in collaboration with an American team that would use this technology to set up the San Junipero system that is currently Kosei Island’s Sister City.”  Haru explained. “At the time, their method of recording the last surge of brainwaves that the human brain makes before it dies and converting it into a series of code in real time and uploading it to a virtual reality was considered revolutionary and this nursing home was one of the first to get this technology. So it was made to be one to allow small mercies. That’s why they named the island ‘Kosei’, meaning ‘life’ and ‘rebirth.’”

Akira blinked. That programmer’s name sounded familiar, but could it be?

“Wait, Futaba Sakura?” Akira asked in shock. “As in…”

“The Arcade rat in Club Newcomer?” Haru said, finishing Akira’s sentence. “The very same. Goro-san told me about her after his first day back from Kosei Island, but it is her, alright. She passed over a couple years ago, but when she was among the living, she did have quite a penchant for gaming, so it seems only natural that she’d want to spend her eternity playing video games there. In fact, I heard Sakura-san’s entire family is in the system now, which makes sense considering that Kosei Island was the very last project Isshiki worked on before she passed over due to her failing health.”

“Wow.” Akira said. “I never knew any of this.” He admitted. “I guess there’s a lot I don’t know about the people I hang out with on Kosei Island.” He said. “So tell me about this marriage.”

“Right.” Haru continued. “The government has got a triple-lockdown on euthanasia cases, which means that you have to get a sign-off from the doctor, the patient, and a family member.” She explained. “It’s to stop people from passing over just because they prefer Kosei Island to the real world.”

“That’s understandable.” Akira acknowledged.

“Well, in Goro-san’s case,” Haru continued. “His father, who never passes up a chance to make it clear how much he despises his son, refuses to sign off on the form. He said he wanted Goro-san to suffer for the rest of his life. But if his father won’t sign it, a spouse can override that.”

“And so that’s why you guys are getting married.” Akira said, sitting back in his seat as he made sense of what he was just told.

“That’s right.” Haru nodded. “We have a priest coming in tomorrow, and then he’s scheduled to pass tomorrow afternoon.”

“’Scheduled to pass.’” Akira quoted. “Why don’t we just call it dying, because that’s what it is.”

“If you can call it dying.” Haru noted. “I mean, getting uploaded to the cloud? That sounds like heaven.”

“So, are you going to wear a dress?” Akira asked, part teasingly and part curiously.

Haru shook her head. “No. I mean, the ceremony is all happening on my coffee break.” She added. “I never married so I figured, what’s the harm?”

“A pretty girl like you never got married?” Akira said. “Well color me shocked.”

“I mean, I had the chance once, but it was an arranged marriage my father set up to an abusive man almost seven years older than me when I was still in high school all because he had money connections.” Haru admitted, blushing embarrassedly at Akira’s comment. “As soon as I broke out of the engagement, he cut me off, leaving me with enough money to put me through school, so I had to put aside my dream of starting a café for a more practical job of going into nursing. And since then I’ve been too busy to really find someone. So I think it’s a nice gesture to help someone like Goro out with this.”

“You’re a good person.” Akira said, suddenly getting an idea for something.

“I know this is sudden to ask.” He said, sitting up. “But can you please let me and Goro connect to the Island right now?”

Haru’s expression shifted to one of nervousness. “You know I can’t do that right now, we need to keep him on his schedule. Besides, once he’s permanently on the island, you can see him without waiting for him.”

“Please.” Akira pleaded. “This is really important. Just give me five minutes. That’s all I ask for. I need to ask him something.”

“Well…” Haru said, her expression softening. “If it’s just for five minutes, I probably could.” She said.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” Akira said.

“Hang on, let me take you back to his room before we fit the microchips on you.” She said.

~~~~~

The sweltering summer heat of the midday sun was almost overwhelming as Akira walked along the beach outside his house back on Kosei Island. He didn’t have to look long until he found Goro.

Goro was standing on the beach, letting his bare feet get washed over by the waves as he looked up at the bright sky in wonder. Akira saw Goro turn to face him as soon as he got closer.

“Akira!” He said, letting a smile cross his face. “Isn’t this amazing? I’ve never seen this during the day. It’s so warm.” He continued. He frowned. “But I don’t know why we’re here.”

“I do.” Akira said as he moved to stand in front of Goro. “I have something to ask you. But we don’t have much time”

“What is it?” Goro asked. “What is so important that it requires us to meet like this?”

“Well, I heard you’re getting married and passing over tomorrow.” Akira said.

“Yeah.” Goro said, moving a hand up to brush away some hair being blown in his face by the sea breeze. “I guess I’ll permanently be on my honeymoon here after tomorrow.” He added. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“I’m going to say something crazy.” Akira said, moving forward to take Goro’s hands in his.

“I’m listening.” Goro said.

“Do you want to marry me instead?” Akira asked, kneeling down on one knee. “Haru is a nice girl and all, but wouldn’t it be nicer if you married someone you actually made a connection with?”

“Oh my god.” Goro said, trying to make sense of what is happening. “Are you ACTUALLY proposing to me?”

Akira only responded by nodding.

Goro knelt down in front of Akira before he flung his arms around Akira’s shoulders and started pressing kisses all over his face before he finally pulled away. “You’re ridiculous.” He said, his blushing face betraying his words.

Akira grinned. “Is that a ‘Yes?’?” He asked hopefully.

“YES!” Goro said, letting a big smile cross his face.

“Thank God.” Akira said. “I’m so glad.”

~~~~~

After arranging a last-minute stay at a nearby hostel, Akira and Shinya returned to the nursing home the next day for the wedding.

The wedding itself passed smoothly and quickly, and two hours later, a couple of doctors walked into the room, carrying a variety of documents, cloudy-looking IV drip packets, and specialized tech equipment, before they all proceeded to walk Akira through the process of signing the legal documents pertaining to his relation to Goro as well as the authorization form to allow Goro to pass over to Kosei Island.

Once all the paperwork was finished, a doctor hooked Goro up to the new IV drip before another doctor placed a RFID microchip on Goro’s temple and started up a recording program on a computer that yet another doctor brought in. Once Goro was live on the system and his brainwave patterns were being monitored in real time on a program on-screen, a doctor handed Akira a small remote with a switch.

“We figured since you’re his husband and all, you’d want to do the honors.” The doctor said.

“I understand. Thank you.” Akira nodded, taking the remote from the doctor before he turned to look at Goro. Akira stepped closer and took Goro’s hand in his free one and gazed at Goro, taking in every detail of his features before he took a deep breath and finally pressed the button.

The sound of machines humming filled the air, almost drowning out the sound of Goro’s steady breathing as they started feeding the venom into his bloodstream while the computer recorded all of his brainwave patterns until finally, just minutes after, everything stopped and silence filled the air.

That silence didn’t last long however, as almost immediately, everyone in the room heard the sound of crows cawing. Akira looked out the window towards the source of the noise and saw two crows sitting on the outer windowsill of Goro’s room. One of the crows cawed loudly before it took off flying into the sky. The other crow briefly turned away from its partner that just flew, before it too, turned and started flying after the first one.

As Akira turned back to Goro, he saw a single tear escape from one of his still-open eyes and slowly run down his cheek. Akira gently reached his hand to Goro’s face and slowly closed his eyes before he pressed a kiss to Goro’s forehead.

“I’ll see you on the other side.” Akira whispered, before the doctors finally showed him and Shinya out of the room.

~~~~~

When Goro awakened, he found himself sitting on the beach outside of Akira’s house, much like the last time. The heat of the air was still as hot as he had remembered it from the previous time, but it somehow didn’t seem to bother him as much anymore.

Reaching to his tie, Goro undid it before he left it on the ground next to him before he stood up and started walking towards the water, feeling the warm, grainy sensation of the sand under his bare feet and soaking up the warmth of the sun’s rays on his skin and feeling the cool, wet waves lapping at his feet. This was real. All of it. For once in his life, he felt like he finally could call someplace home. Well, almost like he could call it home. There was still something, or more likely someone, missing from this picture.

“Hey!” Goro heard Akira’s voice say from behind him. Perfect timing. Smiling, Goro turned to face Akira.

“I was almost starting to wonder if you weren’t going to show up.” Goro said, smiling as he saw Akira, sitting in the driver’s seat of his red Cadillac and wearing a nice black suit.

“And yet you didn’t dress up to see me?” Akira asked teasingly. “Come on!”

Goro laughed and in the blink of an eye, his casual outfit changed into a fancy white suit. “Better?” He asked.

“You look amazing!” Akira said, smiling. “Now come on, get in, I know a place where we can enjoy the view better.”

~~~~~

A few hours later, Akira and Goro finally arrived at a cliff overlooking the city and the ocean below them. Akira had held Goro’s hand the entire time they were driving, while the radio played softly in the background. By the time Akira parked the car, the sun looked like it was halfway into the ocean, creating a breathtaking sight as the lights from the city started to flicker and blink in the distance against the oranges and pinks of the sky.

_"Wise men say only fools rush in,_  
_But I can't help falling in love with you,_  
_Shall I stay? Would it be a sin?_  
_If I can't help falling in love with you..."_

The radio continued to play in the background as Akira got out of the car and sat on the hood. Goro got out and sat down next to him, gently taking Akira’s hand in his once more and leaned his head on Akira’s shoulder.

“This is wonderful.” Goro said wistfully. “I don’t want this moment to end.” He said.

“I’m so glad.” Akira said as he squeezed Goro’s hand.

“Everything looks so real.” Goro continued. “Everything FEELS real.” He said, placing his free hand down on the metal of the car’s hood before he jumped off and walked to the front until he faced Akira.

“What are you doing?” Akira asked.

“I love it here. I just LOVE IT!” Goro exclaimed happily.

“You’ve been here before though.” Akira said, chuckling. “What makes this so different?”

“Well, I’m spending it with you. And I get to live here now.” Goro said. “Akira please.” He continued, taking Akira’s hands in his. “Be with me.”

“I’m with you now though.” Akira said, suddenly feeling uneasy about where this conversation was going.

“But that’s not what I mean, and you know it.” Goro said. “Live here with me.” He said. “Pass over. When it’s your time, of course.” He said.

“Goro…” Akira began, suddenly starting to feel a little agitated.

“Stay with me.”

“Can we please just enjoy tonight?” Akira said, changing the topic.

“And you’re running out of time for tonight.” Goro said, suddenly starting to feel agitated that Akira didn’t seem to understand or acknowledge what he was saying. “In ten minutes, you’ll be out of here, and then I’ll have to wait a week to see you again.”

“You know I’m just a visitor.” Akira said.

“Yeah, for a couple months more maybe, and then what?” Goro pointed out.

“We are not discussing this.” Akira said resolutely as he got down from the hood of the car and stood up.

“And then you’re gone. Just… gone. When you can have forever.” Goro continued, seemingly not listening to what Akira had just said.

“Forever?” Akira retorted. “Who even can make sense of forever?”

“Okay fine then, for however long you want.” Goro said. “You can literally remove yourself just like that.” He added, snapping his fingers. “I mean look at it.” He continued, gesturing to the view below. “Touch it.” He said as he tapped on the hood of the car.

“I’m going.” Akira said, walking back and getting back in the driver’s seat, shaking his head as he tried to keep his temper from boiling over.

“Come on, this is real.” Goro said, walking over to stand next to Akira. “What about us?”

Akira shook his head. “You know this was just a gesture, right?”

Goro’s face fell. “But you MARRIED me.” He said.

“I married you to help you pass over.” Akira said. “It was a gesture of kindness.”

“It’s not so kind of you to leave, you know.” Goro pointed out.

A feeling of guilt ran through Akira’s heart as he saw the look of disappointment on Goro’s face. “Okay, look. I’m sorry, okay?” He said, reaching out his hand to take Goro’s. “I… I got this chance…. We got this chance, and I wanted to share it with you, but I’ve made my choice.” He took a deep breath and continued. “I’m sorry, okay? I know I married you, but I made a promise to Makoto.”

Goro’s disappointed expression shifted to one of anger as he heard Akira’s words. “Just what is it with you?” He asked, trying, but ultimately failing, to keep the choked sounds of heartbreak from entering his voice. “Is it because you feel bad that your wife isn’t here? Because that was HER CHOICE.”

“Goro don’t…” Akira said, almost in warning. “Do not go there.”

“She chose not to stay here.” Goro continued, ignoring Akira. “It’s like she just left you. She had all the opportunity to stay, but no, she CHOSE to leave you.”

“Goro you don’t know what you’re saying.” Akira interjected, feeling the anger in his voice.

“You should be mad at HER.” Goro continued. “Not whipping yourself with guilt. You just can’t seem to see it! What Makoto did was selfish, actually.”

“I said stop it!” Akira said, closing his eyes and tearing his hands away from Goro’s as he got back out of the car and stood up so that he was back once more at eye level with Goro. Goro’s eyes widened as he stopped talking.

“Makoto and I were together for forty-nine years.” Akira said. “FORTY-NINE YEARS. You can’t even begin to imagine just what we both went through. You can’t know the bond, the pain, the laughter, the boredom, the yearning, the love of it all!” He said, his voice almost raising uncontrollably as he felt the tears start to prick at the corners of his eyes from just the thought. “The goddamn love. You just cannot know just how much we sacrificed.”

“I−” Goro began, only to get cut off once more.

“No, you just CANNOT know all the years I gave to her and all the years she gave me.” Akira continued. “Did you ever stop thinking about yourself or even bother to ask? Me and Makoto? We had a daughter, Yuko. Always stubborn, always beautiful, just like her mother. She died in a car crash at age 39 and you know what? Makoto and I felt that heartbreak AS ONE.” He scowled. “If you think that you are the only person who has suffered, you can go fuck yourself.” He spat before he got back into his car and started up the ignition.

“Well I didn’t know!” Goro shouted angrily over the noise of the car engine starting up as Akira turned off the radio.

“You want to know what Makoto said when they offered her a chance to go to Kosei Island, this fake graveyard that you’re so in love with, do you know what she said when she was on her deathbed?” Akira said, biting back the tears as he turned away from. “She said ‘How can I go there, when she never had the chance to.’ And then she just left. And you know what?” Akira said, turning back to Goro. “I WISH I can believe that Makoto is together with Yuko now, but you know what? I don’t. I believe they’re nowhere. Just like you said. They’re gone. So no, the truth is, I think I pitied you more than I loved you, that’s what those strong feelings were. Maybe I might have stayed with you had I not been so faithful to Makoto but as it stands, I just did this to help you, but don’t even bother giving me some peachy sales pitch about how good forever could be.”

“I’m sorry!” Goro said pleadingly. “Akira please I’m sorry.”

“If you want to spend forever and end up like those lost people over at Shujin go right on ahead, but I’m out of here.” Akira said as he pulled the handbrake and with that, he turned the car away from the cliff and tore away back down the road he had come from.

“Akira, wait!” Goro shouted, running after Akira but only to be left behind in a cloud of dust.

Goro raised the crook of his elbow to cover his nose from inhaling dust as he ran through the dust to chase after Akira, an effort that seemed futile, until he heard the horrifying sound of glass shattering and metal crunching under an impact in what could only distinctively be a car crash.

Feeling terror seize his heart, Goro ran down the street after the source of the noise until he found Akira’s car, now a crumpled heap of smoking red metal and shattered glass. Goro stared in horror at the wreckage before his next instinct took over and he found himself by the driver’s seat and pulling Akira out of it. Almost as soon as Akira was out though, he vanished into thin air right out of his arms as his timer ran out for the week and Akira got zapped off the network.

In defeat, Goro sat down on the ground next to the wreck, his pristine white suit now smudged and dirtied from all the smoke and dust, all the while cursing himself and his fat mouth for not knowing when to stop and ruining everything once again. He felt an overwhelming surge of emotions take over him and the next thing he knew, he started sobbing uncontrollably until he couldn’t cry any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! This chapter ended up being the first thing I wrote for P5 after the game came out. TBH I was going to finish this a week before the game came out, but then my computer died on me and I had to wait a month to salvage all the documents (including all my fic drafts, notes, and outlines) from the computer and then there was also finals, Sakuracon prep, as well as time spent on playing P5 (as well as Ace Attorney 3 and Fire emblem awakening oops) and well, I only just now got my writing groove back! I hope to update with the final chapter soon though, so keep an eye out for that! Thank you all for waiting! I really appreciate it!


	5. Chapter 5

After his argument with Goro, Akira couldn’t possibly imagine that his week could get any worse, but as his luck would have it, that was exactly what happened.

Almost a day after getting back from Tokyo, Akira’s breathing started to get worse. At first, he blamed his shortness of breath on him not being used to the amount of pollution in the air in Tokyo compared to Sumaru’s. But the next day, not only was he almost gasping for air at every breath he took, he started coughing up blood.

Akira felt dizzy as he stared in horror at the amount of blood in the palm of his hand that he had practically hacked his lungs out into. However, before he could wipe it off, let alone call for a nurse, Shinya burst through the door of Akira’s room.

“Kurusu-san!” He exclaimed in alarm. “I heard really loud coughing, You sound like you just coughed up a lung!”

“I might as well have.” Akira said shakily as he showed his blood-covered hand to Shinya.

“I’m going to call a doctor.” Shinya said, pressing a button by Akira’s bedside to notify one of the doctor’s on-call before he gently moved Akira back to his bed and hooked him up to his respirator. And minutes later, a doctor showed up to start running diagnostic and treatment tests on Akira.

~~~~~~

After hours of testing and several more nurses being called in to assist the doctor, Akira was finally given a less-than-pleasant diagnosis.

“We regret to tell you this…” The doctor began as he shuffled through the documents in the manila folder in his hand.

“Just tell me.” Akira said, almost exasperatedly. “I’ve been told I’m close to death on multiple occasions, I don’t need to have things sugarcoated.”

“Alright then.” The doctor said, taking a deep breath as he pulled out a print-out of the results of one of the scans that had been done on Akira earlier in the day. “We have finally processed the results of your scans and we have found three malignant growths in your lungs as well as two in your liver.” He explained, pointing at various lit-up points of the image.

“And that means?” Akira prompted, taking the scan and taking a close look at it, all the while feeling virtually unfazed by what he was just told.”

“In this case, it means you have at most, a month to live.” The doctor said solemnly. “We are sorry.”

“I’ve been told that I had ‘three months to live’ six months ago.” Akira pointed out, although not in protest or denial of his situation. “What makes this one different?”

“Well,” The doctor said, adjusting his glasses. “The projected growth of these tumors is apparently going to be too fast for chemotherapy or surgery to have much of an impact on it. And at your age and level of strength, the chemotherapy might actually do more harm to you than help.”

“I see.” Akira said, settling back into the pillows supporting his back as he handed the scan back to the doctor.

“We advise that you start making any preparations you deem necessary.” He said. “If you have any questions about the kind of services we provide, feel free to ask.”

“Thank you, I will.” Akira said as the staff left the room.

As soon as Akira was left alone, he let out a sigh, feeling both parts relieved and resigned to his fate. He hadn’t even realized he had been waiting for this level of finality about his life in a long time, but now that it was finally happening, he just wanted it to go quick. His next thought though, strangely went back to what happened between him and Goro the last time he was on Kosei Island, and immediately, a wave of guilt and sudden feelings of indecision about his choices washed over him. Akira didn’t know why this was suddenly coming up now, but the more he thought about it and the way he had snapped at Goro in light of his choice, the worse he felt. The feelings of negativity surrounding Akira started to prove emotionally draining to him, and eventually, Akira dozed off from the amount of exhaustion he felt.

~~~~

Two days later, Shinya took Akira outside to look at the beach near the hospice per Akira’s request.

Akira spent the entire time silently watching the waves crash upon the shore as he pondered his fate, his decisions and what to do about Goro. Akira found that choosing on burial plots was not a problem for him, as that was something he had thought about ever since Makoto died, but as soon as the doctors started asking him if he wanted to pass over to Kosei Island, Akira found himself starting to have sudden second thoughts. And after much thinking, Akira finally decided he wanted to clear his mind before he could make any decisions by sitting out by the beach. However, he soon found the answer he had been looking for.

“Well, okay then.” Akira said out loud, focusing his eyes on the sunset, which was still too bright for his tired eyes.

“Excuse me?” Shinya said.

“I guess I’m ready.” He mused out loud.

“For what?” Shinya asked, completely confused.

Akira smiled. “For the rest of it.” He said. This time, he knew his time was drawing soon, And he had never felt more ready. There were still a few more things he needed to do before he could go though and he realized he needed to tend to it as soon as possible.

~~~~~

On Kosei Island, Akira found Goro in the exact same spot that he had found him in the last week, wearing the same suit he had last seen him in.

As Akira drove up to the beach, he saw the brown-haired boy sitting on the sand, hugging his knees to his chest as he looked out toward the sea. Akira parked the car (which sadly was a different one from the Cadillac that he had crashed the previous week), before he walked up to Goro and gently sat down next to him.

“Hey.” He said gently.

Goro slowly lifted his head to look at Akira. His eyes were red and puffy from crying and his cheeks were streaked with tears.

“Why are you here?” He asked. “I thought you never wanted to see me again.”

“What?” Akira asked in shock. “Goro no.” He said gently, gently smoothing Goro’s hair down. “Where did that thought even come from? I actually came here for quite the opposite, actually.”

“Really?” Goro asked, a look of hope passing over his face.

“Yeah.” Akira said, placing his hand on Goro’s shoulder. “I came here to apologize.” He said.

Goro shook his head. “You don’t have to do that.” He said sadly. “I was the one in the wrong. I shouldn’t have asked, let alone pressure you. I completely understand your choice. And… I’m sorry I disrespected it.”

“No.” Akira said. “I was the one who was in the wrong. I shouldn’t have blown up at you like that. I felt scared, and I felt agitated, but absolutely none of that is any excuse for the way I yelled at you or said the things I said. And I’m so sorry. Could you ever forgive me?”

Goro nodded. “I forgive you.” He said. “I just don’t know why you’re here apologizing to me in the first place. The things I said to you about Makoto were so despicable, I thought you wanted to cut me from your life.”

“No. I understand your viewpoint.” Akira said. “And mine came from a place of narrow-mindedness. I got the chance to fully live my life and fall in love. But you? You were robbed of every chance you had of living your life before it could even begin. This place? This is one of new beginnings for you. Of course you’d choose Kosei Island.” He explained. He paused. 

“And do you know what’s the beautiful thing about love?” Akira asked gently. “It can forgive and be willing to try again. And the thing is, I’m not scared anymore, now that I realize and accept my feelings for you. I guess the real reason why I was so prickly to you was because I was so scared of moving on from Makoto.” He paused. “But I realized that if I didn’t let go of the past, I’d be losing out on a pretty amazing future.”

 “Akira, what are you saying?” Goro asked.

“Well, I decided I will be passing over to Kosei Island after all.” Akira said, a tone of resolution in his voice as he smiled. “My condition got worse after last week and the doctors told me I have less than a month to live, so I decided to cut it early and pass over next week.”

 Goro’s eyes widened in shock as the realization hit him. “B-but Akira! Are you sure about this? This is a permanent decision!” He exclaimed. “What about Makoto? What about your promise to her?”

Akira shook his head, still smiling. “I’ll be buried in the same plot as her and Yuko.” He explained. “It’s the one way I know for sure I’ll be with them. And you know, if Makoto is out there somewhere, I’m sure she’ll want me to be happy.” He said. “With you, I feel happy. If I stay here on Kosei Island with you, I know I won’t be going into the void in vain, and I know I won’t be losing another person that’s precious to me.” He whispered.

“But What if you regret it? We don’t even know each other all THAT well!” Goro pointed out. “What if this is a mistake?” He whispered softly.

“This won’t be a mistake.” Akira said, shaking his head and taking Goro’s hand in his. “I know it. I’ve never stopped thinking about you since the day I met you back in the club, and the things I feel for you, I felt the same way for Makoto the day I met her. You’re smart, you’re good looking, and you’re kind. I know I’ll love you.” He paused. “Plus, I mean, we ARE still married, so that also counts for something.” He pointed out.

“I thought the vows were ‘til Death Do Us Part’ though.” Goro pointed out. “You don’t have to call me your husband anymore.” Goro said, still trying to process everything Akira was saying.

“Yeah, but I want to call you my husband.” Akira said as he squeezed Goro’s hand. “If we’re going to spend eternity here, we might as well spend it bound by matrimony, don’t you think?” He said before he briefly pressed a kiss against Goro’s cheek.

Goro blushed deeply as he felt his eyes well up with tears before he smiled widely. Akira could feel his heart melt at the sight of such an adorable smile, and in that moment, he vowed to himself to always protect it. Goro wiped his eyes on the back of his free hand. “I’m so happy.” He said. “Thank you.” He said as he threw his arms around Akira’s shoulders in a tight embrace as he felt the tears of joy escape from his eyes. “Thank you so much for deciding to stay with me.”

“You’ve spent your whole life without love. I want to show you what it feels like now. And I’m just so excited to spend all of eternity with you.” He said, looking into Goro’s eyes. “Just… Wow, I feel so lucky that I have the CUTEST Husband ever.” Akira said.

Goro blushed before he gently kissed Akira, who cupped his face in his hands and gently him back before they separated and proceeded to watch the sunset and the twinkling lights of the city that could be seen on the shore on the other side of the island, letting a comfortable silence fall between them as fireflies started coming out of the bush and gently illuminating the slowly growing darkness, the only sounds to be heard was the sound of the waves crashing on the shore and the radio of Akira’s car.

As the next song started up, Akira perked up as he heard the opening notes.

“We have to dance to this!” He said, sitting up straight in response to the music’s familiarity.

“Why?” Goro asked, hesitant at Akira’s suggestion.

“Last week, we never got to have our first dance as a married couple!” Akira exclaimed as he pulled Goro up with him, his outfit changing from jeans and a hoodie to the black suit from last week in a blink of an eye. “Come on, dance with me! There’s nobody else here to look, so come on!”

“Alright, okay!” Goro laughed as he got up before Akira stepped closer and put one hand on his waist and the other on his shoulder. Goro mirrored the action, gazing into Akira’s eyes before they both stepped in time to the music.

_"Looking in your eyes I see a paradise_  
_This world that I've found_  
_Is too good to be true._  
_Standing here beside you,_  
_Want so much to give you,_  
_This love in my heart that I'm feeling for you.”_

Akira felt Goro lead him in to a turn, surprising him before he looked at Goro with a expression of confusion before he smiled and leaned in to gently nuzzle his nose against Goro’s, prompting a warm fuzzy feeling to rise in his chest.

_“Let 'em say we're crazy, I don't care about that_  
_Put your hand in my hand baby_  
_Don't ever look back_  
_Let the world around us just fall apart_  
_Baby we can make it if we're heart to heart."_

As the second singer joined in on the second verse, Goro led Akira into an outward turn before Akira returned to place his free hand on Goro’s chest before the brown-haired boy gently leaned Akira down into a dip, prompting Akira to let out a loud giggle that caused Goro’s heart to almost melt on the spot.

_“And we can build this dream together_  
_Standing strong forever_  
_Nothing's gonna stop us now_  
_And if this world runs out of lovers_  
_We'll still have each other_  
_Nothing's gonna stop us_  
_Nothing's gonna stop us now."_

As the song crescendoed into its chorus, Goro gently brought Akira back up to stand before he found himself pulling Akira closer to him as they stepped in time before Goro gently picked Akira up a foot off the ground and gently spun around in a circle, prompting a laugh from the other boy as he leaned his face down to meet Goro’s before he kissed him and Goro brought Akira onto his feet again and they continued dancing close, feeling alive together in the beautiful magic of the moment against the sunset and firefly-lit night.

~~~~~

A week later, Akira’s room in the hospice was quiet as the doctors and nurses hooked Akira up to the machine and inserted tubes into his wrists and stuck a microfrequency recording chip to his brain. The doctors did their standard speech about what they were going to do and how they were going to induce the Euthanasia via a venomous injection and what to expect but all Akira could really do was just nod his head to acknowledge the doctors, not entirely listening to what they had to say. He already knew what was going to be the outcome of this procedure; he just wished they’d get on with it. The longer they talked about the details, the more anxious he started to feel about his decision, despite the fact that he KNEW he was making the right choice.

Finally the doctors asked Akira if he was ready. He nodded, and the doctor pressed a button. The room fell silent, save for the gentle hum of the machine, the beeps of the screen tracking his pulse, and the muffled lyrics of a song being played on the radio in the room next door. Akira found the dissonance between the song playing and the situation he was in quite odd but before he could think more of it, he started to feel a stinging pain overtake his body as the poison started to make its way through his veins. Determined to keep his mind off of the pain, he started to take deep breaths and focus on listening to the lyrics of the song.

_"Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth?_  
_Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth._  
_They say in Heaven, love comes first,_  
_We'll make Heaven a place on Earth._  
_Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth."_

As the song started into an upbeat instrumental break, Akira’s vision started to get fuzzy as the poison started taking effect on him and his world started to grow darker until it slowly faded to black.

~~~~~

Akira woke up in his bed, the feeling of the soft sheets on his skin a comforting sensation after his memory of the pain. He blinked blearily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he sat up before getting out of bed and got changed. Everything in his house suddenly felt more real to him now. Every sensation, every feeling, every texture, it all felt genuine, and it all felt like a comfort to him. He wandered into the living room, taking in the sight of everything when he suddenly heard the roaring rumble of a motorcycle engine. Stepping to the window, he looked outside to see a red motorcycle pull up. Smiling happily when he saw who the driver was and feeling Surprised by what the driver was driving, Akira stepped out the door.

“When did you get that sweet ride?” Akira asked Goro, stepping toward him as the brown-haired boy parked the motorbike.

“I got it for the occasion!” Goro chuckled as he got off the bike and moved to embrace Akira. “Do you like it?” He asked as he pulled Akira in for a hug.

“I love it!” Akira said, giving Goro a brief peck on the lips before smiling and rubbing his nose against his husband’s. “But not anywhere near as much as I love its owner.” He said with a smile.

Goro’s face blushed pink for a minute before he kissed Akira’s cheek. “You’re so sweet.” He said. “I’m glad you like it. I’ve been meaning to try motorbiking since I used to cycle but I never got the chance until now.” He rambled. “Anyway, enough talking. Are you ready to go?” He asked as he twirled his keys.

Akira nodded. “Take me away, My Prince.” He teased as Goro led him by the hand to the motorbike and hopped on. Akira climbed on behind him and wrapped his arms around Goro’s waist as Goro started up the motorcycle with a loud roar before the motorcycle took off onto the highway before he turned on the radio on his motorbike, tuning into the same song that Akira had heard just before he passed over.

_"In this world we're just beginning_  
_To understand the miracle of living_  
_Baby, I was afraid before,_  
_But I'm not afraid anymore._

_Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth?_  
_Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth._  
_They say in Heaven love comes first,_  
_We'll make Heaven a place on Earth."_

Goro drove the motorbike along the empty road toward the sunset, Akira took it all in, feeling the wind in his hair and breathing in the comforting smell of the laundry detergent on Goro’s clothes and his cologne and the salty air of the ocean breeze, feeling how real Goro’s warmth and the feeling of Goro’s pulse under his skin was. All of this was reality now, and Akira felt happy. All of his remaining doubts were gone. Everything felt real, and everything felt right in this world, and as they drove off into the sunset, Akira couldn’t wait to spend the rest of forever with his love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s all folks! Thank you for joining me on the Akeshu side of this journey! I had never written for this pairing before so this has been one learning curve but It was certainly a most enjoyable one at that. I hope you all enjoyed this fic! I’ll see you all over on the Shukita side (or in other works if you weren’t following it.)
> 
> P.S.  
> The songs used in this chapter are “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us” by Starship and “Heaven is a Place on Earth” by Belinda Carlisle, if anybody wants to listen to the songs in their entirety during a reread or for any hidden meanings.


End file.
